Finding Innocence
by Copperpelt
Summary: The Brawlers are going on an island getaway thanks to Murucho, but it's cut off when Alice gets hurt and the police start getting involved. And Shun's the prime suspect because of his past. Now Shun has to find the real criminals or take the blame. R&R!
1. Can't Catch A Break

_Shun_

Sunshine was beating down on Dan and I while we walked towards Murucho's mansion. It was the first day of summer, and the hottest it had been in the weeks leading up to it. Dan mumbled under his breath, "I can't wait to get to Murucho's and cool down." I chuckled.

The heat didn't bother me much. I had been in much worse weather conditions before. So a little hot weather wasn't anything to me. I said, "Dan, your attribute it fire. You should be used to this." He rolled his eyes and said, "Oh ha-ha. Those are two different things."

A group of girls on the way to the beach were in their swimsuits and walked by us. Dan stopped and said, "Hello, ladies." They giggled and kept on walking. I said, "Now what would Runo do to you if she saw you flirting with them? Oh yeah. She'd hit you upside the head and call you a pig."

Dan rolled his eyes again and said, "Sheesh, you know Runo and I aren't dating. But you are right about what she'd probably do to me. At least I'm not like you though." I looked at him and asked, "Like me? What's that supposed to mean?" Dan cut me a sly look and said, "You don't even make eye contact with other girls cause you're so dead-set on getting Alice."

I felt my face heat up and I looked away from Dan. He laughed and said, "Ha! See! You're blushing! I was right!" I glared at him and said, "It's a sunburn!" Dan was bent over laughing, and I kept walking and left him there. I heard him running to catch up with me, and he was still laughing. "Aw, take a joke, Shun. I swear. You're too serious at times." I didn't comment and tried my best to keep the rest of the walk to Murucho's quiet.

Which was impossible with Dan walking beside me. We were a few blocks away when Dan said, "Dude, this summer vacation with Murucho is going to be beast!" I looked at him and said, "What is the point of saying that?" Dan raised an eyebrow at me and asked, "Saying what?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "Beast. What's the point of that?" Dan shrugged his shoulders. Murucho had invited the six original Brawlers to go on vacation with him to some island his parents bought. I had to admit, having Murucho as a friend had its perks.

I remembered Murucho saying that we were leaving at the end of the week to give the others enough time to pack up and get to his mansion. I didn't think Dan would survive the four days before we left though. The only ones we had to wait on were Runo and Julie. Alice was already there, and that was the reason I had told Dan that we were going there early.

Runo was still out of town with her parents, and would be back in a few days, and Julie was just living so far away. We walked through the front doors of Murucho's mansion, and Dan closed his eyes and smiled. "I love industrial air conditioners." Murucho was standing in the main room when we walked in, and smiled. "Hey, guys. Glad you could make it." Alice was behind him and said, "Hi, Dan. Hi, Shun."

Dan grinned and said, "Hey, Alice." I just waved and pretended to look at a painting that was hung on the wall. "Isn't it pretty?" I jumped and turned around to see Alice behind me. I clutched my hand to my chest and said, "You scared the crap out of me."

Dan was across the room laughing. _Idiot._ I tried to recover quickly by saying, "Uh, yeah. It's a nice painting." I noticed she was looking at my right shoulder. "Shun? What's that?" I quickly pulled my sleeve over at said, "A scratch. Grandfather decided to up my training." She nodded. I couldn't tell her what it really was.

_I left that life behind a long time ago._ I had to make sure that I kept that mark hidden around the others, or else I'd have to face their questions. Alice said, "Oh. Sounds like your grandfather is still doing good." I nodded my head. "Yeah. At the rate he's going he's going to live for many more years. Speaking of grandfathers. How's your's doing?"

She smiled and said, "He's doing fine. Still working in his lab as usual." I bit my lower lip and tried to keep my face turned away from Alice to hide my blush. She said, "Well, I guess I'll go catch up with Dan. It was nice talking to you, Shun." When she was gone, I let out a sigh.

I almost regretted agreeing to go on this vacation. Later on in the day, the four of us moved into the dining area to sit and talk when Julie showed up. Alice smiled and said, "Julie! We thought your flight got delayed till tomorrow." She smiled and said, "They fixed the problem and now I'm here and ready to get some of that warm island sun!"

That only left Runo to show up within the next few days. Julie looked around the room and asked, "Did I beat Runo here?" Murucho smiled and said, "She'll be here either tomorrow or the day after." Julie nodded her head and took the seat between Alice and Murucho. I was sitting on the end chair as usual, but Dan had picked the seat next to me. I knew what he was planning.

He was going to tease me about Alice. I tried to keep myself reserved from him, but doing that is difficult when his loud mouth opens so he can talk. Dan whispered over to me, "There's still a seat next to Alice." He nudged me a few times with his elbow as well. I said, "I'm perfectly content with where I'm sitting now."

Dan rolled his eyes and said, "Shun, you've been doing nothing short of stalker her since we were twelve. It's time to make a move, buddy." I acted like I didn't hear him while I sipped my tea that Kato had brought me. A phone rang, and Murucho left from the table to answer it.

He soon returned and said, "That was Runo. She said that she'll be here sometime tomorrow morning or afternoon." Julie squealed and said, "She needs to hurry up!" I said under my breath, "Patience is a virtue." Julie looked over at me with narrowed eyes and said, "What did you say about me?"

I looked around and said, "I didn't say anything about you, Julie. I was talking to myself." Dan was covering his mouth with his hand while he laughed. I heard him say something like, "Smooth, ninja boy." I growled at him. I'd end up going insane before we even left to go on vacation.

_Shun_

Runo wasn't lying when she said she'd most likely show up in the morning, because when I woke up she was downstairs talking with Murucho. Alice was also awake, leaving Dan and Julie the only ones left sleeping. I was relieved that Dan was still asleep.

That would give me at least an hour of peace from him. It didn't take long for Dan and Julie to join us, and of course they both freaked out when they saw Runo. The rest of the day went by fairly quickly. Before any of us knew anything, it was dark and we were getting ready to turn in for the night. Before I headed into my room, I saw Alice walking towards the main lobby.

Curious, I ran after her. I saw she was getting ready to go outside. "Alice? Where are you going?" She turned around and looked at me and said, "I was just going outside for some air. You want to come with me?" There wasn't any wanting to go with her. I needed to go with her. The streets outside weren't safe at night. Or anytime of day for that matter. I said, "Yeah. Sure."

I slid my shoes on and followed her outside. We didn't walk any further than the park when we turned back to return to Murucho's. Neither of us really talked or said anything to each other. I didn't know if I should have been thankful for that or disappointed.

Probably thankful because I didn't say anything that would have make me look like an idiot. She stopped in front of a little café that was still open and said, "I'm going to grab a drink and maybe something to eat. You can head on back to Murucho's if you want." I looked and saw that Murucho's mansion wasn't more than a couple of yards away. I said, "I think I'll head on back."

Alice nodded her head and walked in the café. If she ran into some trouble, she could have easily ran and made it back to Murucho's place with no difficulties. I walked back in the mansion and took off my shoes. Quietly, I made sure that I went back to my room without waking any of the others that were sleeping. I wasn't sure what time at night it was. Maybe ten or eleven at night?

I wasn't ever good with making estimations. I probably should have waited for Alice to get back and make sure she was ok, but I went ahead and went back in my room instead. I knew what kind of people were out on those streets, because I had been involved with them before.

I rolled up my shirt sleeve and looked at the mark. It wasn't a scratch made by my grandfather's ridiculous training. No. It was a scar that I had gotten when I fell into the wrong group of people. It was a sign of my loyalty to them, and that I was one of that gang's members. But years and years ago I had turned my back on them because I started to see the errors of my ways.

I didn't want to be a part of them anymore, and just walked away without another word. I thought I had made the right choice, until I found out they had been looking for me afterwards. I had a few run-ins with them, but I always got away from them by making use of my ninja skills.

I hadn't seen hide nor hair of them since my last encounter with them almost a year ago. I assumed they had forgotten about me, and went on with my life, Or what I could salvage out of my life. I laid back on my bed and folded my hands behind my head so I could stare up at the ceiling.

I couldn't ever let the others know about the things I had done and seen. They wouldn't understand, and I didn't want to try and make them. The past was the past, and I was going to try my best to keep it that way. My eyes started to grow heavy, and I fell asleep just as I heard the wail of sirens going down the street.

_Shun_

That morning, I woke up because sunlight was shining right into my eyes. It had to be the second most unpleasant way to wake up next to my grandfather yelling right into my ears. But something about the atmosphere wasn't right. I couldn't pick it up though.

When I changed into my clothes for the day, I was greeted with several police officers standing in the main room that were talking with Dan and the others. They looked nervous and worried. I asked, "What's going on here?" Old habits of mine were telling me to run or fight because of the cops in the room. The tallest one said, "Take a seat with the others please."

He turned and looked at one of the officers behind him and asked, "Is this all of them?" He nodded and said, "All five of them, sir." The tall officer, who's name I saw on the badge was Allan, nodded his head and said, "Ok. Now we can get down to business." I looked around the room quickly, and saw Alice wasn't there.

I started to get a sick feeling. Officer Allan interlocked his hands together behind his back, and he started to pace back and forth in front of us. I didn't take my eyes off of him, because, yet again, my old habits. He stopped and said, "We're here today because we found your friend, Alice, in an alley."

That sick feeling only got worse and worse every minute. Nobody said anything, so the officer kept talking. "She was beaten pretty badly, and is now in the hospital in the ICU and undergoing tests. We found you all when we went through her phone to find family to contact, and we saw the Marakura's name listed. So this was the first place we went to gather information." The officer's eyes fell on me.

I had seen him before, but I didn't think he was an officer when I last saw him. He seemed to recognize me too. The others seemed to stunned to speak or register anything that was being said. The officer asked us, "Why was she out last night? And do any of you know who she was with?"

Everyone shook their heads, but I spoke up. "I saw her before she left. She said that she was going to get some air, and I went with her because I know how dangerous those streets can be at night." The officer gave me a cold look when he asked, "And did you see her attacker?"

I knew what he wanted to know. He was seeing if I was the one that hurt Alice. I told him, "No. When we were walking back here, she said she was going to stop at that little café a few buildings down. I didn't think anything would happen to her in that short distance, and came back here."

Runo was the first to speak up other than me. She asked, "What hospital is Alice in?" One of the other officers scribbled down on a piece of paper, and handed it to her. He said, "This is the hospital address and room number." Officer Allan said, "We have no further questions as of now. We will return later with more information and to continue the questioning if necessary. Thank you all for your time."

He and the other officers escorted themselves out of the building without any other words. I turned and looked at the others. They were all still in shock. Murucho pushed up his glasses and said, "If it isn't obvious as of now, we aren't going on that trip. Not until Alice is better and her attacker is found." Dan nodded his head and said, "I second that motion." _Something doesn't add up here._

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><p>just out of boredom i have started another story. i am also currently working on <em>The Puppetmaster<em> but i can see it really isnt doing all that well but i'm going to keep working on it anyway. well, please read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	2. Into The Lion's Den

_Shun_

After those cops left and everything sank in, it didn't take long for all of us to pile into the limo and have Kato drive to the hospital like a madman. He pulled in crooked next to the sidewalk, and we all rushed out; ignoring the security guards that were yelling at us.

Murucho pulled out of the piece of paper that the police officer gave to us, and said the room number, hospital wing, and floor out loud. We quickly found it, and sat outside arguing with a nurse for about ten minutes before they let us in. The others ran into the room when the door was opened, but I strolled in slowly. I didn't want to face this. Since we had been told that Alice had been attacked last night, I couldn't help but blame myself.

_If I had just stayed._ The ICU was filled with other critically ill and injured patients, and being able to see and hear them and their families didn't help but add to the depressing atmosphere. I was looking at Alice over Dan and Julie's shoulders.

She looked like she was sleeping, but we all knew better. The nurses and doctors said she was almost in a coma. Alice was awake, but barely, and that was an inconvenience to the police that were working on her case. Since Alice was the only one who may have seen her attackers, she was their only witness. Runo was trying to talk with her, and wake her up. But Alice was out cold.

There wouldn't be any waking her up today. I inched closer to see her more clearly. Dan moved out of the way and I was now standing between him and Julie. There was a bruise running along her face, cuts and gashes on any part of exposed skin that we could see, and there was still some blood on her that had been missed and dried. _This is my fault._

I tightened my jaw to keep from bursting out and saying or hitting something. Dan must have seen my distress, because he said to me, "Calm down. We don't know if there was anything you could have done if you had stayed with her. So don't dwell on it."

Dan could be deep when he needed to be, so it was strange hearing him sound. Well. _Smart._ And just as if things couldn't have gotten worse, Officer Allan and two other officers walked in the room. They looked surprised to see all of us crammed into the room, and then his eyes fell on me and saw the hate and accusations brewing in them.

All during the quick drive to the hospital, I was trying to remember where I had seen the officer. It had come to me before we pulled up earlier. I had seen him about two years ago when I had gotten picked to go with a few other of the gang members to rob a store. I got chosen to be on look-out. Somebody had skrewed up and set off an alarm, and of course the ones inside tried to grab all they could before the police showed up.

I was the last to leave, and I had seen Officer Allan jump out of the passenger seat of the car, and he caught just a quick glimpse of me. One that I knew he wouldn't forget, and he hadn't. He had memorized my appearance since that day, just in case he ran into me again.

But he had no proof that I was there. No video cameras had caught me, no witnesses on the streets, nothing. And they needed hard evidence to do anything to me, and even if they did, I was just the look-out. Being just a pawn in a crime was minor compared to what else the gangs did.

Officer Allan fixed his eyes back on me, then looked across the room and said, "We were hoping she would be awake so would could question what she saw. Looks like she's still asleep." I could hear the drag in his voice. There was a person still running around out in those streets.

A threat and danger to everyone in the city. He just wanted to get rid of him and maybe stop this from happening again, but I also knew he wanted it to be me. Just to get me back for something small I had done. Well, that he had known I had done. I had done a lot worse than look-out. Not killing anyone or anything like that, but I had help jump many people in allies. _Just like what happened to Alice._

I knew from the start that this was a gang attack, but didn't know which one. It could have been my old gang, one of the others, or a new one just trying to make a statement. I had seen it all happen before, and I still couldn't tell whose handiwork was whose. Unless they left a sign.

My old gang would leave the same sign that was on my arm. That's why I kept it hidden, even when I was still involved with them. I didn't want to be identified with them, and still didn't. From just looking at Alice, I really doubted it was the work of my old gang. Usually when they jumped somebody, they would leave their sign on them. With whatever they could find. But that still didn't mean that it wasn't them.

They might have not had the time to leave a mark, or couldn't find anything to use. Which was highly unlikely. They were very good at making use of everyday items. While thinking, I didn't even notice that the nurses were running everyone out other than the police officers. I took one last look at Alice, and then reluctantly walked out of the room.

I was the last out, and the minute I stepped over the threshold, the door shut behind me. The draft made from it moved my hair. I growled, and Dan came walking up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. He said, "None of us want to leave the room either, but they need to try and get all they can out of Alice so they can find the creep that did this to her."

I nodded my head and said flatly, "I'm going to run some errands tonight, so I might not be back till late." The others looked at me with confusion and worry in their eyes. Murucho asked me, "Where are you going? I could get Kato to drive you there. There's no need for you to end up like Alice for something like a bag of chips." I smiled and said, "Thanks for the offer, but I've got it."

Murucho didn't seem to believe me, but pushed up his glasses and said, "Alright, but my offer still stands." I thanked him, and we all walked back outside and climbed back into the limo. I noticed that Kato was getting a police officer to remove a parking boot on the tire. Apparently they do get pissy if you park in the red zone.

_Shun_

I waited till dusk to start and get my things together to go and run my 'errand.' I got onto my hands and knees and looked under my bed at Murucho's. I always carried this with me, because I never knew when the contents inside might be needed. I took the lid off of the box, and took out the paper receipts I used to keep everything partially concealed.

Seeing a box full of receipts wouldn't draw much attention at first, that's why I chose it. I found what I was looking for under all the paper; the hand pistol I had when I was still running with the gangs. I hadn't touched or laid my eyes on it since the day I turned away from all of that, but I'd need it for when I went into the Lion's Den to get some information.

I tucked the pistol under my belt, and changed my shirt so that I could keep it hidden without being seen, but at the same time it would be easily accessed. I sighed, and hated myself for this, but wanted to know who hurt Alice more than I hated what I was doing.

Getting that gun back out, was like bringing up the ghost of a bad memory. I'd thought it'd been long gone, but it always lingered around me. I left my wallet on my bed. That was one thing you didn't bring with you on the streets. Some of those people out there would see that and kill you in a heartbeat for nothing more than five dollars.

The bad things was, I was about to go back into that mess and talk with those people. I did take my phone with me in case I wanted to take Murucho's offer and get a ride back to his place instead of walking. Especially if I wasn't on good terms with the people I talked with when I left.

A speedy getaway was always smart if you're being chased by gangs with the smell and senses of a bloodhound. I walked by the others and said, "I'm gone. I don't know when I'll be back." I saw they didn't want me to leave, but I had to.

If I found out who had hurt Alice, then I'd be able to turn them into the officers, have them tried in court, and maybe even clear my own name and get on clean grounds with Officer Allan.

_That last one is very unlikely._ I walked out into the warm summer night air. It was almost like last night when I walked with Alice to make sure she was safe, and she still ended up hurt.

_Shun_

It seemed like I was the only one in this part of town, and that could be interpreted as either good or bad. It all depended on the circumstances. _Just a little further._ I turned onto East Street, one of the most crime ridden places in the city, and walked to the intersection at the end.

There with a neon lit sign, was the place I needed to be. The Lion's Den. Adequately named in my case. The words were written in a late 80s or early 90s font style, and the porcelain behind the neon was faded from years of weather exposure. I could hear music blasting inside.

I didn't think it was possible, but this place got more and more dangerous every day. My hand ran across the pistol that was tucked away under my belt to make sure it was still there. I knew every person in there was carrying some kind of firearm, so I was kind of outnumbered.

But I'd at least scare them off if they pulled one on me or take one with me. Hostages can get you out of any situations. Especially if the hostage is important in the feeding order of a gang; like at the top. But I hadn't been involved with them in years, and wasn't sure how much the hierarchy had changed since then. I took a deep breath and walked through the door.

I could just make out the faint noise of the bell above the door, but the music muted it to everyone else. The place was packed. _Just like I remember it._ Cigarette smoke was thick in the building, and it almost looked like fog had slipped in through a window or door. There was a howl towards the back, and I saw somebody get knocked back and onto the floor.

There were people chanting for the fight to escalate. It would be smart to let it, or else there would be many gang members get mad because the fight stopped. And it could also turn into a brawl if it continued. There wasn't much winning here. Somebody always lost. I scanned the area. Nobody seemed to notice me, so I took that opportunity to snake my way up to the bar.

I had heard that the bartender loved to hear the gossip between gangs, and would basically breathe the stuff if he could. He was still there, and cleaning a glass. He had never seen or talked with me, or half of the people in the building, so I wouldn't be treated any different. I slid into a barstool and looked around. Discretely, I whispered to him, "I need to know something about what happened to a girl the other night."

He raised an eyebrow up at me and said, "Something happens to a girl every night. I need details, and I'll let you know what I know. For a decent price of course." I should have expected this much from somebody that worked around all of these kind of people. I came prepared though, and dug into my pocket and pulled out a thin gold chain that would go to a necklace.

His eyes lit up when he saw it, and he took it and pocketed it. What he didn't know what that I stopped by a dollar store and bought a fake gold chain. I was smiling on the inside. _You'd think he'd learn by now._ I leaned forward and said, "Last night about eleven or twelve at night, a girl was attacked near the Marakura residence. Have you heard anything about that and have any ideas to as who did it?"

The bartender thought for a moment and said, "I remember hearing somebody mention it this morning. They seemed pretty proud of themselves about it, so I assume they were the ones who did it. I don't know who they're involved with, but Hilton might."

Now I had seen Hilton before. That wasn't his real name, but was called it because he basically had everything that the hotel tycoons had. Stolen and obtained through drug deals of course. He was the person at the intersection of the gang information highway.

He knew what was happening everywhere in the city, so he could swoop in and pick up the scraps like a vulture. I told the bartender, "Thanks. I'll look him up tomorrow." The bartender nodded and went back to cleaning glasses.

I walked out of the building and went towards the streets that were somewhat safer, and dialed Murucho. "Hey. Yeah. Send Kato to pick me. 62nd Street. Yeah. Alright. Thanks." I snapped my phone shut and headed for the street.

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><p>i'm bout to freeze to death. this is the last day of early uploads since i go back to the eductional system tomorrow. -.- i think i'm going to rotate between this story and <em>The Puppetmaster.<em> like, upload on one one day, and then the other the other day. not sure. i may upload both of them. only tomorrow will tell. well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	3. Personal Nightmare

_Shun_

Kato didn't ask questions when he drove up to the sidewalk and I climbed into the limo. I knew that the others would be asking me all kinds of questions, and I would try and answer them to my best extent without letting them know the real truth. The limo was a few blocks away from Murucho's, and Kato took his time driving there. I was wondering if he was just enjoying the time out of the mansion. He slowly drove past a street corner, and I saw a group of people about my age.

_A gang._ It looked like a drug deal going on, which wasn't uncommon. Kato said either to me or himself, "This town used to be so nice." I couldn't have agreed with him more, even when I had helped contribute to turning it into what it was now. The limo rolled to a stop in front of the mansion, and I opened my door and got out while thanking Kato for picking me up at this late hour.

He nodded his head and pulled the limo around the back to park it in the underground garage. I walked inside, and saw four faces looking at me with everything from worry to frustration. I looked at them and said, "What?" Dan stepped forward and said, "What were you doing on 62nd Street? That's almost three miles from here."

I yawned and said, "I was just walking around the city and ended up there. Nothing major." The others crowded around me. Runo sniffed the air and asked, "Why do I smell cigarette smoke?" Julie made a face and said, "Ew. I don't know how people can smoke those things."

I hadn't thought about the smell of the cigarette smoke sticking on me. I should have brought something to mask it or at least a change of clothes. _I guess that's what happens when you're out of practice for such a long time._ I quickly changed the subject and asked, "Have you heard anything new about Alice?"

It was just a conversation changer, but I was also genuinely worried about her. I hadn't risked my neck going to that bar to find information for nothing. Murucho shook his head and told me, "Nothing. We haven't heard anything since we left the hospital earlier today. We tried calling, but the phone lines were busy."

I nodded my head. I wondered if Officer Allan had woken her up somehow and gotten anything useful out of her. If he had, then I could stop searching for the person who hurt her. But then I wouldn't have made the guy pay for what he did, or had the chance to clear up my name.

I saw Dan's eyes drifting down to my side where my hand pistol was stuck under my belt. I thought for a moment he may have seen it, but if nearly a hundred thugs hadn't noticed, then my idiot of a friend wouldn't either. I said, "Well, if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to bed. It's late, and I'm tired. You all should do the same."

I walked between Dan and Murucho and made my way back up to my room. I felt calmer without their eyes on me. I could have just as easily slipped up and let my secret out. It made me nervous to think about them finding out what I had done and who I had been a part of. How would they react?

Would they turn me into the police? Blame me for Alice's attack? Turn their backs on me and never look at me in the same way ever again? I slammed the door shut behind me and locked it, then dove down and pulled the box out from under my bed and stuffed the pistol back inside and shoved it back underneath.

I didn't want to look at it for a while. I couldn't say ever again. I'd need it soon when I found Hilton and asked what he knew about what happened to Alice. There was a new kind of weight lifted off of me now that the gun was off of my person. I remembered how normal it had felt at one point to have it in my possession, and now it felt like a curse.

All of it did. Going back into the depths of my dark past was too much for me to handle, but I had to. At least until I brought the creep that hurt Alice back to the police. But what if I got too involved to get back out? What if by doing whatever I had to, ended up putting me right back where I was?

I didn't want to go back to running the streets and committing a different crime every other night. A knock at my room door made me jump. "Who is it?" My voice was shaky. In fact, my whole body was shaking. Thinking about my past had gotten me worked up. The person behind the door answered back.

"It's Dan." I made sure the box under my bed was well hidden, and stood up and walked over to the door. I opened the door, but not enough to let Dan in. "What do you want, Dan? I was almost asleep." _And by almost, I mean wide awake._

Dan ran a hand through his brown hair and said, "I just wanted to talk and make sure you're right in your mind." I didn't have a chance to say anything before he made his way around me and waltzed into my room. I growled. "Dan."

He ignored me and said, "I know this whole mess with Alice has you skrewed up in the head, buddy. Or is at least getting you there. The others are just worried that you won't be rational and end up getting yourself hurt or something. We're just worried about you. I mean, you walked out in this city right after Alice got attacked. You could have just as easily been another victim."

I held up my hand, signaling Dan to stop talking. If I hadn't, then he would have kept on blabbing on and on and on. And quite frankly, I didn't want to hear it at the moment. "Dan, I'm touched that you and the others are worried about me, but I'm fine and don't need sympathy. Yes, Alice's attack has me thinking a lot of things right now, but it isn't going to affect my train of thought. Now, it's been a long day and I'm tired. All I want to do is go to sleep and not think about anything."

Dan didn't say a word to me. I saw in his eyes that he didn't believe that I was fine or sane for that fact. "Alright. If you say so." He turned around and walked out of my room. I followed behind him and shut the door back and locked the latch again.

I wasn't about to let anyone else in my room that night. I was tired of confrontations with people that I didn't want to get involved with the hole I was digging myself in. My right shoulder started to sting. It did that at times, right where my mark was. I always thought it was because of what they had used to put it there; which was a piece of metal that they found laying around and had heated up to make sure the mark stayed.

I didn't want to look at it. It was bad enough that it would be branded it on me for my life, but I could at least try and pretend it wasn't there. The stinging got worse, and it made me look at it. Just as I did, the stinging stopped, making it seem like it wanted me to look at it.

To rub itself in my face and taunt me. I stared at the red and pink mark. Two lines met at the top and went down as it were about to make a triangle, but the base was never drawn. A line then went across the two lines and made it look like an "A". I sighed.

The gang leaders kept what it meant a secret from the entire gang, and I had wished to know what it stood for a long time. I ran my hand across the raised scars, hoping that I could wipe it away. It was there to stay though. Always there to stay, and to be a grim reminder of the choices I made and regretted everyday.

I felt the threat of tears trying to creep up on me. No, I wasn't going to give into my emotion that night. I took deep breaths until the urge to cry went away. It took only a few seconds for me to regain composure. _Guess the old man came in handy after all._ I felt drained and tired, and my body made its way over to my bed and laid down.

My head wasn't on the pillow, but on the bed itself instead. I felt too tired to move and to get the pillow under me. A roaring sounded outside from below. I had heard it before, and reluctantly got up and looked out of the window and down. There were about twelve motorcycles spinning circles in the streets below.

From up several floors from the street, I was unable to figure out which gang it was. That's what it had to be. Who else would be stupid enough to do this at God knows what time at night? Police sirens wailed in the distance, and the motorcyclists quickly scattered and vanished before the police were even two blocks away.

My old instincts made me tense up at the sound of police sirens. That was another thing I hated about being in those gangs. All of those days of running had basically traumatized me and had me shell-shocked when it came to those police sirens. My legs started to ache with the memory of running up and down the alleyways of the city, and they couldn't support me anymore.

I stumbled back, and sat down on the edge of my bed. I was sweating, just like if I had ran for a long distance. It was like living an old nightmare that wouldn't go away no matter how many times you tried to wake yourself up. It just lingered and lingered. Sometimes it would pop up one night, and be gone for a week, then return and start haunting me again.

I had been that way ever since I joined the gangs. The one thing I hated though, was those days when I could close my eyes and hear the all too familiar sounds of gunshots. My old life had done nothing more than traumatized me.

That's what the gangs were designed to do though. They were meant to follow you, even if you left and thought you could get away. I couldn't take it any longer. I forced myself to stand up from my bed and walked out of my room. The others were sleeping, and I walked right by their rooms as silently as I could.

I found the way back downstairs and walked outside into the same night air I was in a few hours ago when I went to the Lion's Den to try and find something out about who attacked Alice. My mind was making me walk unconsciously, even though I knew where it was taking me.

The automatic sliding doors to the hospital opened, and I was hit by the smell of medicine and illness all at the same time. I walked down the hall. No nurses seemed to be around. Now, I was standing in front of Alice's room.

_Alice_

Everything was blurry for a long time. It was like I was looking through a magnifying glass. Anytime I saw a face, it was blurred too much for me to know who it was. Everything was muffled and echo-like too. All day, people had been standing over me and asking me things.

I'd tried to answer them, but couldn't. Something was keeping me from talking. What did they want to know though? I knew they were asking me things, but I couldn't register the questions. Through my blurred vision, I made out shapes of police officers. What were they doing there? Earlier, I also saw Dan and the others. Shun was also with them, and more towards the back.

I couldn't tell what his face looked like. Now I was alone. I knew it was late at night, but wasn't sure how late. A pain in my body was keeping me awake. A door then opened, and I made out the blurry figure of Shun. What was he doing here? I saw him pull something like a chair up next to my bed, and sat down in it.

What had happened to me that involved strangers and my friends all being huddled around me and asking me questions? Was I sick? Dead maybe? Having a bad out of body experience? I tried to talk to Shun, but again, something was stopping me from speaking.

I was able to make out him saying, "This is my fault. I shouldn't have left you that night." Left me? What was he talking about? From what I remembered, we weren't together or anything like that. He must have meant something else, but I couldn't figure it out. He then said something like, "Don't worry, Alice. I'm going to find the people that did this to you and make sure they get what's coming to them. I swear it."

His voice sounded like he was crying. But Shun _crying_? And what was he talking about when he said he'd find the people that did this to me? What had they done? I was so confused. I didn't know what was going on, and it was starting to scare me.

It was like I woke up in another world or had missed a part of my life and was living in a bad dream. _Shun, what happened to me? What's going on?_ I could only speak with my thoughts, and that wasn't going to help me remember anything.

Shun was talking again, and I strained my ears to hear what he was saying. Perhaps he would mention something that would jog my memory. "Alice. This shouldn't have happened to you. Of all people on this world, it shouldn't have been you." I could tell now that he was crying. _Shun, say something that I can use to remember!_ I then felt something hold onto my hand.

Shun said, "I know you probably can't really hear me right now, but you need to try. You need to wake up. You need to let us know who it was that hurt you so we can do something about it." Hurt me? I was attacked? I needed to wake up. I tried to force myself awake, but the edges of my vision started turning black. I was able to see Shun was standing up now. "Alice? Alice!" Everything was black now.

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><p>very much importance i need to mention. there may not be uploads thursday, friday, and saturday. i have Capital District Band rehearsals that day and dont know what times i'll be back or leave. : so, please nobody get angry if there aren't any uploads. :/ thanks. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	4. Living In The Dream

_Shun_

It took several nurses and doctors to drag me out of Alice's room when she went out. I was yelling at them, and trying to kick my way back inside. But in the end, they won and I was locked out in the hallway of the ICU. I hit the wood door and yelled, "Let me back in!"

A nurse down the hall told me to be quiet and to take my yelling outside. I held back any remarks I may have had for her. I wondered how the entire floor and wing of the hospital was empty one minute, and then every nurse and doctor flooded to Alice's room when she went out. I felt sick with worry. Would Alice be alright? I wanted to be back in that room and seeing for myself what they were doing to her and what they were saying.

I remembered my phone in my pocket and quickly pulled it out and called Dan. The phone started ringing. _Pick up. Pick up, Dan!_ I was pacing back and forth, and doing nothing short of hyperventilating. "Hello? Who is this?" Dan's voice sounded tired and sluggish.

I said quickly into my phone, "It's Shun. Hurry up to the hospital. Now." Dan's voice sounded more awake. "Shun? What the hell are you doing up at the hospital?" I ran my hand through my hair. "I'll tell you when you get here. Just hurry up and get here." I leaned against the wall in the hallway, and a nurse poked her head out of another room and said, "No phones in the ICU please."

I ignored her and focused myself back on the call with Dan. "Ok. Me and the others will be up there in a few minutes. Then you can tell us what the hell is going on." My mouth felt dry. "Alright." I clicked the button and ended the call. The nurse was glaring at me with narrowed eyes, and then retreated back into the room she came out of.

I didn't want to stand in front of Alice's room anymore, and walked down to the waiting area at the end of the hall and sat in one of the hideous blue-green chairs. It wasn't five minutes till the others showed up. Dan immediately started to bombard me with questions.

"What are you doing up here at two in the morning?" I stood up and was about to respond to his question when a doctor walked down the hall and stopped when he saw us. "Are you with Miss Alice?" Dan looked at me and asked, "What's going on, dude?"

I didn't say anything to him, and was too focused on what the doctor had to say about Alice. Was she alright? Worse? I made myself sick with anxiety at thinking about what was going on with her. Runo asked with concern in her voice, "What happened to Alice."

She saved me the hardship of asking that question. The doctor cleared his throat and said, "Miss Alice's body put itself in a coma to give it a chance of healing. We're moving her into another wing of the hospital for coma patients. I promise you all she will be in excellent hands there."

I sat back down in the chair I was in, and let everything sink in. Now there wasn't a chance to hope that anyone got any answers out of her. It was up to the police to find out on their own. I was still at square one. _But a coma?…..Alice._ Julie asked, "Can we see her?"

The doctor shook his head and said, "Not now while they're getting everything situated for her." How could this doctor talk so calmly to us about this? A nurse walked up behind him and said, "How about you all go home and come back tomorrow? Visiting hours are over anyway."

Nobody said anything or argued with them, and started to file out of the ICU wing of the hospital. Kato was parked out front. This time, he was out of the no parking zone so he wouldn't get a boot put on the limo again. I was the last in the limo, and shut the door before Kato drove off.

The whole drive back was dead silent. Dan wasn't even harping on me to know why I had left Murucho's place and went to the hospital. My thoughts went back to how Alice's slightly opened eyes, shut and the machines they had on her started to beep in ways they shouldn't have.

I had tried to snap her back awake, but I had known that it wouldn't have done any good. The limo pulled to a stop in front of Murucho's mansion, and we all quietly stepped out and walked inside. Not saying anything to each other. It wouldn't be like this forever.

At least by morning, there might be questions asked to me by Dan….Or by Officer Allan. When they caught wind of Alice's condition, I had a pretty good idea that this would be the first place he'd show up at.

And I'd be the first person he asked questions to since I was with Alice when she went downhill. He would think I did something to her to keep her quiet or something like that. He'd say anything to make me look like the person they were looking for.

_Alice_

Everything was starting to weird me out. Last thing I had remembered before my vision went black, was that Shun was sitting next to me and talking about something that happened to me that I didn't remember. Now, I was standing in the street that Murucho's place was on.

It was nighttime, and all the streetlights were on. The road was still and abandoned now that no cars were flying back and forth. I was starting to freak out, and my heart was speeding up and wanted to jump from my chest. _This has to be a dream. How else would I have gotten from where I was, to here?_

I walked across the empty street, and looked around. All the lights were off in buildings, and something told me it was very late at night. I was starting to get scared, and felt like I was thrown into the Twilight Zone. "Shun? Dan? Runo?"

I called their names, and was happy to at least know that I could talk now. Shame there wasn't anyone around to answer back. I stopped in front of a restaurant, and was hit by a wave of déjà vu. Everyone inside looked familiar to me. Actually, _everything _in there looked familiar.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sounds of whimpers. I walked towards them, and saw several people in an alley. They were standing over somebody who was laying on the ground in a crumpled mass. I couldn't see their faces from the darkness of the alley. I yelled out, "Somebody! Help!" The person's attackers didn't even look my way. They couldn't hear me.

Calling for help was pointless. They laughed and high-fived each other. On of them said, "That ought to show him." Another chimed in and said, "Yeah!" They walked down the alley and vanished in the dark. I ran over to the person who they attacked to see who they were.

Orange hair was splayed out everywhere, and I realized who it was. It was me. I stumbled back and ran out of the alley. I was freaked out. What was going on? Why was I seeing all of this?

_How _was I seeing all of this? This couldn't just be a dream. Not something like this. No. It was a memory. _This really happened to me._ I now knew what Shun was talking about before everything blacked out on me. I wanted out of this world and to wake back up and know that everything was alright. _Wake up! Wake up!_

I shut my eyes tightly, and opened them back up. I was still in the street. I kept doing that over and over again, and same result. I wasn't about to wake up that way. A lady walked out of the restaurant and carried a bag of trash. She tossed it into the dumpster, and froze.

She saw me. The one laying on the ground and unconscious. The lady quickly ran back inside, and I heard her saying they needed to call for help. I walked back to the opening in the alley, and stared at myself. I wasn't moving, and looked dead. I could see blood pooled around me, and I cringed as a wave of pain rushed over my body.

It was like I was feeling was I was seeing. Sirens wailed in the distance, and soon ambulances came screeching to a halt in front of me. They rushed out and into the alley and looked me over. Police showed up and started questioning the workers at the restaurant on what they saw.

I watched as I was lifted up and loaded into the ambulance. I rushed and jumped into the ambulance before the doors closed. I knew the people inside couldn't see or hear me, but it still felt weird. There being two me's in one place. I sat down in the ambulance and looked at myself.

I was bruised, covered in blood, and weak looking. It was like I was looking at somebody else entirely. What was I doing out there at night anyway? The ambulance came to a stop, and the beaten me was pulled out and rushed into a hospital. I jumped out and followed behind them and into the hospital.

I was rushed into the ICU immediately. The hospital staff was doing so much to me at once, that it made me dizzy as I watched. There were x-rays, blood work, stitches, more x-rays, and sheer pandemonium in the room. After several hours, I was fully patched up and stuck into a room. A nurse was talking to me as if I could hear her.

"Don't worry, hun. We'll contact somebody in the morning." She walked out of my room, while I stayed. I started to recognize more and more of the place and staff. This was where I was when Dan and the others showed up. This was where I was when the police were hovering over me.

I found a chair, that I figured was the one that Shun had, and sat down in it. There were bandages around my head and arms. I looked like a mummy, minus the preserved skin and all of that. I wished I knew who had done this to me.

Then I could try to wake up and tell somebody and make them get the punishment they deserved. But I might never wake up. Then I'd never be able to tell anyone anything. Or see them again. I let out a sigh, and rested my head in the palm of my hand. All I could do was wait and wait….And wait.

_Shun_

Sleep? What was sleep? My eyes didn't shut once when I went back to my room. They hadn't even blinked. I was afraid that if I did, something else would come and blindside me.

I paced back and forth in my room. Emotions cascaded off of my like a waterfall; worry, sadness, regret, anger, aggravation. I just wanted to go back in time to last week. Before Murucho made the vacation. Before Alice got attacked because I left her alone.

Before I started to go back into my old life. That time, was so much simpler and easier. I liked it better when I watched Alice from a distance and would dream. Instead of seeing her in a hospital and beat myself up over it. Were the others asleep? I doubted it.

They were almost as strung out over this as I was. I didn't think anyone was going to sleep knowing that Alice was in a coma. _Coma._ The word was so strange for me to think about or to try and say.

It was like that one word that was forbidden, but it had to be said. It was a part of all of this mess now. And just like I was digging in my forbidden past, I'd have to think about that forbidden word.

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><p>short, I know. : no uploads thursday, friday, and possibly saturday. i have Capital District band rehearsals on those days and will be gone from like 7 in the morning till 9 at night. o.o read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	5. Out Of Body, Out Of Mind

_Alice_

I was still watching my own body laying in the hospital bed. Everything had quieted down now, and my room was still and quiet minus the machines that were beeping. I was still in a chair and sitting next to the bed and looking at myself. Early morning was when police started to show up.

They were trying to get my sleeping self to answer their questions, but I was still unconscious apparently. A nurse walked in the room and told them, "We found a cellphone on her. Maybe it could be of use to you?" The officers took my phone and scrolled through my contact list. I peered over their shoulders and saw they stopped on Murucho's name and number. One of them said, "Let's stop here first."

The other officer nodded his head and they both left out of my room. Not an hour later, Dan and the others came barreling into my room. My eyes instantly found Shun. He was more to the back of the group, as usual, and looked more lost in thought that I had ever seen him before.

Dan put his hand on Shun's shoulders and tried to sound reassuring when he told him that this wasn't his fault. I knew what they meant now. My attack wasn't Shun's fault. And I knew that. During this weird dream of mine, I had seen the blackened figures of my assailants, but not their faces. But I knew well enough that none of them were Shun.

I didn't even think that Shun would ever have it in him to hurt somebody unless it was self-defense. Or unless Dan got him mad enough. The police soon returned back in the room. The one who had my phone, kept his eyes fixed on Shun the entire time that they were in there.

Did he think that Shun did this to me? Why would he even consider that? It was only a few more minutes before the others left. I tried to follow them, but was stopped at the door of my room. Almost like a wall was there and blocking me. I couldn't leave the room. No. I couldn't leave myself.

I was only seeing what happened around me. I wanted to follow Dan and the others, and maybe try and find out what happened to me. If I found out, would I wake up and get out of this dream? If it was even a dream. Everything seemed so real to me. It even felt real.

I knew all of this happened, so it wasn't just something made up by my mind. Out of boredom, I kept going back to the door and trying to leave the room. I was stopped every time. I walked back and sat down on the couch that was in the room, and brought my knees up to my chest and hugged them to me.

I wanted to wake up. I didn't want to watch everything that happened to me unfold before my eyes. What if I never did wake up? Tears started to form in my eyes at the thought. I wanted somebody to be there with me. Whether it was Dan, Runo, Murucho, or even Shun.

I wanted to be told that everything would be ok. I laid down on the couch and tried to close my eyes and sleep to escape everything, but I was wide awake. Could you even sleep during a dream? I grabbed a pillow and hugged it to my chest and laid on that couch. Waiting to wake back up.

_Shun_

I woke up that morning, and felt like a ton of bricks had been dumped on me. I finally did sleep last night, but only for a couple of hours. My head pounded with the ache you get when you don't sleep enough. I had apparently also tossed around a lot last night, because my covers were almost on the floor.

I reached down and pulled them back up and on me. I was planning on hunting Hilton down that day, but not with the way I was feeling. I decided then that Hilton would have to wait another day when I was in better terms with my mind. But Alice's condition had mixed me up last night.

I wondered if the others were up yet, but I wasn't going to get up and find out. A beep came on, and I turned my attention to the TV screen on the wall. An image of Kato popped up. "Master Murucho, Dan, Shun, Runo, and Julie, could you all report to the main lobby?" He repeated it, and then the screen went black again.

I had a good idea what was waiting for us downstairs; more police and questions. I groaned when I sat up in the bed. I had fallen asleep in my clothes from the other day, and just stayed in those when I walked downstairs. The others were already there.

They all looked like they may have been up a few hours before me. I was pretty sure that I was the only one who looked like pure crap and felt like it too. Runo might have been a close second to me. Sure enough though, Officer Allan and his crew were behind him. I bit my lower lip in order to refrain from hitting something.

I was getting tired of this guy. He knew he wasn't going to get any answers out of us. He was only here because of me. Before he could speak, I stepped up and snapped, "Can't you leave us alone for one day?" Officer Allan was taken aback by my outburst.

Murucho whispered to me, "Shun, just let them get the questioning over with. We don't want any trouble with them." Dan then whispered in with, "Yeah. They're trying to help Alice too, remember?" _The other two might be trying to help her, but the other one is just here for me._

Officer Allan straightened his shirt and said, "I promise this round of questioning will be shorter than the others." I turned around and started to walk out of the room. Murucho quickly asked me, "Shun? Where are you going?" I stopped and turned my head around and hissed, "I'm not answering anymore of his questions."

Officer Allan calmly said, "If you don't want to answer them here, then we can ask them back at the station." _That's just where you want me to go._ I snapped at him, "No thanks. I'll pass."

I was about to walk out of the room again, but two more officers were standing in the doorway and blocking my exit. I turned and glared back at Officer Allan and asked, "Friends of your's?" He held his head high in superiority and said, "I don't care where you want these questions answered, you're going to answer them. It's not optional."

I growled and stepped away from the two officers that were blocking the door. I didn't like being close to them. I walked back towards the others and stood next to Dan. He whispered to me, "Dude, what the hell was that back there? I'm pretty sure they already suspect you. Don't make them have any more reasons to try and put the blame on you."

So Dan knew that I was being suspected. If he knew, then the others did as well. Officer Allan was talking, but I wasn't paying much attention to him. I blurted out, "Don't you care that our friend is in a coma? Can't you at least give us one day of relief from your questions because of that?"

My questions didn't seem to bother him when he said, "The sooner we can find out something of use, then the sooner we're able to bring the person who harmed your friend to justice." I shot back at him with, "But you know damn well that we've told you everything we know. You know that we're of no help to you, but you keep harping on us when we're worried about our friend."

Dan was whispering at me to shut up, but I was going to challenge this officer until one of us gave in. He held a steady gaze at me and said flatly, "It's regulation rules. Until we have any other sources, this is our only place to turn to." I laughed humorlessly. "You're kidding me. _This_ is the only source you and your team have come up with?"

His narrowed eyes turned into an intense glare of hate. He then said coldly, "Take him to the station for further questioning." There was a simultaneous, "What!" from the others. I was shocked myself. The two officers who were blocking the door earlier, came up behind me and tried to handcuff my wrists.

I jerked back and stepped away from them and snapped, "You're not taking me anywhere." I then backed right into the two other officers that were behind Officer Allan. They both had handcuffs at the ready, and tried to get me. I jumped back from them, and realized I was surrounded by all four of them, and Officer Allan was standing in the back with a smug grin on his face. I felt trapped. No, I _was_ trapped.

Officer Allan had me right where he wanted me, and I fell into his trap. Murucho said quickly, "Please, Officer. Shun's just as stressed out as the rest of us. He didn't do anything." Officer Allan shook his head and told Murucho, "Sorry, but I think it's about time we take one of our top suspects in for questioning."

Dan suddenly blurted out, "You really think that Shun would hurt the girl that he's crazy for?" Officer Allan's face was set in a emotionless position when he said, "You always have to think outside of the box in my profession. This is nothing different. Now handcuff him and let's take him back to the station."

The four officers made a move to restrain me. I couldn't let them take me, or else I wouldn't be able to find Hilton or the guy who hurt Alice. I also was aware that I'd be in a ton of trouble with the police force if I ran, and they'd probably be all over the city looking for me. My face would be plastered all over the news and internet in only a matter of minutes.

But I had to do this for Alice. The four officers dove for me, and I ducked under them and ran upstairs to my room. I heard Officer Allan yell, "Get him!" I locked the door behind me and pulled the box out from under my bed and stuck the pistol back under my belt.

I then found a bag and stuffed it with clothes as quickly as I could. I didn't know how long I'd have to lay low, but I was going to try and be prepared. I heard the officers running down the hall. Most likely they were looking for which room I ran into. One of them tried the doorknob.

When he realized it was locked, he yelled for his partners to hurry and help him bust the door down. I had to hurry. I stuffed a few of my ninja items into the bag as well, and opened the window to my room.

The drop to the street was a good three or four stories, but I could make it without any injuries. If I executed it correctly. I jumped from the window as soon as I heard the officers break open the door.

_Alice_

Another hour went by with both of me being trapped in the hospital room. The beeping of the machines were practically unnoticeable to me now since I had spent all of this time listening to them and nothing else. It wasn't like I could do anything to stop them.

I was still laying on the couch and holding the pillow to my chest for comfort. The door then opened up. I was expecting a nurse to walk in, but instead it was Shun. I sat up on the couch, and watched him walk next to the sleeping me, and sit down.

I picked up the faint scent of cigarette smoke. That's what separated this from normal dreams; I could see, smell, and so on, but I was invisible to the rest of the world. Shun looked seriously messed up. I remembered this though. I was partially awake when he walked in my room and talked with me.

I couldn't take back to him though, and I learned why; I had an oxygen mask on my face. I was right though when I thought he was crying. I was now able to see the tears rolling down his cheeks. I got up from the couch and walked up behind him. I placed my hand on his shoulder, but it went right through him.

Just as if I didn't exist. I hated that he couldn't see or hear me. If he could, then I'd ask him about everything that was going on outside of my hospital room. I watched him take my hand into his, and he started to talk with me. That was when the machines started to beep in another pattern, and nurses and doctors flooded into the room.

They had to drag Shun out of the room, and he was yelling and kicking when they did. I was confused as to what was happening. I couldn't see myself due to all of the people that were crowded around my sleeping body. Next thing I knew, I was being wheeled out of this room, and down the hall.

I ran and followed right behind them to see if I could find out what was happening to me once again. I was then wheeled into the ward for coma patients. _I'm in a coma?_

I only stared at my body. Now it had twice as many wires and tubes stuck in it. I looked around the room and saw other people in hospital beds like mine. They all looked dead, and it made the room look more like a morgue.

I went back to my own body, and covered my mouth with my hand. How much more of this did I have to endure seeing before it ended?

* * *

><p>i hate to say it, but i feel at home in morgues. o.o i guess that's why i wanna be a mortician. i dunno. oh well. ok. my absence in a summary. i was sore, tired. my lips were busted, hungry, hands were swollen, neck was torn apart from having over 30 pounds weighted down on it, and i felt like i had been beaten by my own bari sax. o.o i'm so happy it's over with. well, read, review, and other things. (PS, happy to be back!) ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	6. Drop Down

_Shun_

I ducked into an alley a few blocks from Murucho's. I could already hear the wail of the police sirens in the distance. A police car shot past the opening of the alley. I pressed myself against and out of sight from them as they past by. People in the streets had stopped walking and watched with curiosity as the cops flew down the streets.

I brought my bag back up on my shoulder and kept going down the alley. I had to find somewhere that I could hide out in and lay low. I couldn't think of many places since I knew by now I was already on the news and radios. I knelt down in the alley and placed my bag on the ground. I dug around in it and found a zip-up jacket with a hood attached to it.

I stuck my arms through the jacket and zipped it all the way up, and brought the hood over my head. Already I was sweating with the combination of the jacket and hot summer air. But I needed to keep my face hidden when I went through crowds. I could easily ditch the jacket if somebody started to suspect me. Odds were they wouldn't know who I was either way.

I slung the bag back onto my shoulder and started back down the alley. I found an old industrial air-conditioner fan that was running for an old turn of the century building. I stood in front of it and cooled down for a short moment. I wished I could have stayed a little bit longer, but I had to keep movement. Time was precious when trying to find somewhere safe.

I was sure that I looked even more guilty now that I ran from the police. I sighed and got up and walked away from the fan. It didn't take long for me to start sweating again. I was then faced with the end of the alley. The streets weren't as busy as the ones around Murucho's place, but they still had a decent crowd. I figured out where I was. About two blocks from this street was the Lion's Den.

Now that I knew where I was and had my bearings straight, I merged into the crowds. I could feel the few questioning stares from other people as they wondered why I was in a jacket in this heat. But other than that, nobody seemed to notice me. _Maybe news about me hasn't gotten here yet._

Feeling a little bit calmer in this area of town, I unzipped the jacket slightly to try and cool down. It helped some, but not much. The crowds started to thin out the closer I approached the Lion's Den. Reason for this; nobody wants to get mugged, shot, jumped, and so on and so on.

Feeling even more sure that nobody would spot me now, I pulled the hood off of my head and zipped the jacket down the rest of the way. I let out a sigh of relief when a slight breeze brushed against me. I could see why Dan enjoyed the air conditioning at Murucho's place.

I could have really gone for it myself at that moment. I stuffed the jacket back into my bag and kept on walking. The sun was beginning to set. I had walked all day, and was about to drop from exhaustion. I had just gone past the Lion's Den, and heard the usual fight going on inside.

I was now on familiar streets. I knew every building around in the area; most had been abandoned for decades. Now I was faced with an old warehouse. Reluctantly, I walked up to it and knocked on the metal door.

_Alice_

Dan and the others showed up in the coma patient ward sometime in the noon. Shun wasn't with them. I could see them asking the nurse if they could go inside and see me. She thought for a moment and then let them in. Dan and the others looked at the other patients that shared the ward with me. They seemed to be uncomfortable. Could you blame them?

I was just as freaked out as they were. It was very depressing in the room. They didn't say anything to me. I guessed they thought I couldn't hear them. But then again, they didn't know that I was also standing right behind them and could see and hear them.

Dan sighed and said to himself, "I know Shun didn't do this to Alice. He wouldn't do anything like this to her." I wondered where Shun was. Last I had seen of him, he was being drug out of my hospital room in the ICU. After a few more hours, the others said their good-byes to me and left.

They kept glancing at the other coma patients when they walked out. I'd probably do the same thing. I wanted to know what was going on outside of this patient ward. I only knew what was going on with myself, and I didn't want that anymore. But whatever might be going on outside, could be a lot worse for all I knew.

I then felt like the floor fell out from under me, and everything was dark. I opened my eyes, and was faced with the dull florescence lights on the ceiling. I moved my head around and was looking at the coma patients, and laying in my bed in the patient ward.

I was back in my body. Not watching it or sitting by it. I was back in it. I smiled and tried to sit up, but there were so many tubes and wires stuck on me that it was like I was tied down. I felt around for a nurse call button or something to let somebody know I was awake.

I finally hit something, and I nurse came running in and saw that I was awake. She ran over to the wall in the ward and hit a button that paged a doctor. He soon showed up along with several other nurses. They took off the oxygen mask and most of the wires except for my IV line.

Even though I knew where I was and what was going on, I still felt a little panicky. The doctor instructed one of the nurses to call my friends, and also for her to call the police officers. Maybe now I could get some more insight to what was going on, and to also try and help shine my own light on some of the problems.

_Shun_

The metal door opened up, and I was greeted by a surprised face. "Shun? Is that really you?" I kept my gaze on him. I didn't know what they'd do now that I was back. "Yeah. It's me." The person in the door was named Ron, and one of the members to my old gang. Yep. I was back in the place I left.

It was the only place I had a chance of hiding out in without being sent in to the police. That is, if they didn't decide to get my back for running out on the gang. Ron looked around and said, "You know the boss has been looking for you for years so he can punish you for running out on us, right?"

I nodded my head. I knew all too well that he had been looking for me. Ron asked me in a hushed voice, "What are you doing back here?" I repositioned the bag on my shoulder. "I need a place to hide out for a while. This was the only place I could think of that wouldn't turn me in to the police."

I could see Ron was biting his lower lip as he thought. I knew he wouldn't ever rat me out to anyone, but that didn't go the same for the others. He told me, "I can let you back in here, but I don't know how the boss and the others will react to you showing back up after three or four years."

I nodded my head and said, "I know how it works, Ron. I've been a part of this long enough that I know the rules." Ron nodded his head and led me inside of the warehouse. Behind him, I could see the mark that they had branded on the back of his arm. Right above his right elbow.

He didn't get the luxury of hiding it like I did. But nobody ever said that Ron wanted to hide it. Other than location, it was the exact same mark I had. I placed my hand over my mark that was under the sleeve of my shirt. I followed Ron into the main warehouse building, and was greeted with more surprised expressions.

There were faces I recognized from when I left, and there were also new faces that I didn't know. Sitting in the back of the warehouse building, was the gang leader. The one who made the rules and the only one that was allowed the strike fear into the gang members.

Even he wore a surprised face. He said without any emotion, "Shun. It's been a while. Hasn't it, everyone?" The others chimed in with agreement. His brown hair was starting to gray from years of dealing with the stress of running the gang. He turned to Ron and asked, "Why has he come back?"

Ron said in a somewhat shaky voice, "He needs a place to hide from the police, Ceram." I looked around the warehouse. More layers of graffiti had been added to the metal walls. Ceram stood up and said flatly, "Does everyone remember what Shun did to our organization a few years ago?"

There were multiple yeses from the others in the room. Their voices echoed against the cold metal walls and roof. Ceram continued. "We tried to find him to make him pay for leaving us, right? We never found him, and now he's come back to us for help. What do you all think we should do to him?"

I started to get nervous. There were some warped and demented people in this gang who had twisted ideals for punishments. Nobody spoke up yet. Ceram said, "I say we give him no help unless he suffers in some form. So, what do you say, Shun? Our help for a little bit of minor payback for abandoning us?"

I gulped, and my hands started to shake. I couldn't turn anywhere else. I knew Murucho and the others wouldn't turn me in, but the police would expect me to go back to them. I said in a not so confident voice, "I-I guess that's only fair." I had never hated myself so much before. Ceram asked the others once more, "Any suggestions for our old friend here?"

Somebody in the back who I couldn't recognized said, "We could tie him to the water pipe over there, and bruise him up a little." Ceram rubbed his chin and said, "Hmm. That could cause pain and not hurt him enough that he'd die. Any other suggestions, or is that it?" I would have ran if I wasn't surrounded by an entire gang that I left that still wanted to get me back.

Ceram looked around and said, "Nothing else? Alright then. Tie him to the pipe." I didn't have time to react before I was drug over to the pipe. There were too many people holding me down, and I couldn't fight back to run or anything. They slammed my back against the pipe, and that temporarily stunned me.

They then got some plastic ties and tied my wrists together so tight, that it felt like if I moved them, the ties might cut into me. I was now tied to that water pipe, and at their mercy. Ron looked like he didn't want to do this, but he had no choice but to join in.

I was still standing up, and I saw somebody grab a piece of metal pipe. Out of instinct, I started struggling against the ties on my wrists. They were already cutting into me. The person handed the pipe to Ceram. They said to him, "You can have the honors." Ceram smiled and took the pipe.

He swung and hit the side of my leg and made me drop to my knees. My arms scraped the pipe I was tied to when I went down. My leg burned with pain, but I knew all too well that he wasn't going to stop there. All I could do was try and grin and bare it.

* * *

><p>i'm still fuming over episode 44 of Mechtanium Surge. -.- they killed Ingram and Skyress dammit! -punches hole in wall- grrrrr...i'm soaking wet too cause i got caught out in the rain while hunting. o.o and it wasnt no little mist. it poured. o.o well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	7. Stand And Deliver

_Shun_

The only thing that was keeping me off of the floor were my tied wrists. Which I was sure were bleeding from how tightly they were put on me. Ceram threw the pipe down and it dinged against the concrete floor. "I think that's enough. Cut the ties and let him go."

Through my hair, I saw somebody flip out a pocketknife and walk behind me. Their hand held onto my arm, and I felt him cutting the plastic tie that was around my wrists. The second they were cut, I fell forward and laid on the cold concrete.

Ceram turned to Ron and said, "Since you let him inside and brought him to me, he's your responsibility. If he crosses us again, then it'll be your head." I was too weak to look up and see what Ron's face told me about to situation. I heard him say, "Alright. I understand, Ceram."

My body was screaming in pain. Ceram hadn't held back when he took that pipe to me, but I knew he could have done a lot worse that what he did. I heard Ceram say, "Ron, stay here with him while we go and make our nightly run." I watched as the entire gang walked out of the warehouse.

I was still laying on the cold concrete, and struggling to keep my eyes open. Ron knelt down beside me and asked, "Do you think you can stand?" I tried to push myself up with my hands. When I did, the edges of my vision started to go blurry. I then blacked out, and felt myself fall back down on the concrete.

When I woke back up, I was laying in a bed. I thought for a moment that I was back at Murucho's, and that everything had been a horrible nightmare. But my aching body said otherwise. I moved my eyes around and saw I was still in the warehouse. Almost all of the gang members had a place to stay and sleep in the storage units that were connected to the warehouse.

I turned my head and saw a picture on an old nightstand. I recognized the girl. It was Ron's little sister, Allison. She was the only reason that Ron was in the gangs. He came to Ceram when I was still involved, and asked for money so his sister could get an operation that would save her life. In exchange for the money, Ceram forced Ron to join the gang.

As far as I knew, Allison still had gotten the operation, but was still very sick. And if she ever did get better, Ron would still be forced to stay in the gangs or he'd be hunted down like I was when I left. And I was sure Ron would be found much more easily than I would have been.

I rolled over onto my side, and groaned in pain. I lifted up my arm to see what kind of injuries may have been on the rest of me. My arm was black and blue, with a few thin gashes that looked like they had stopped bleeding recently. I'd hate to know what the rest of me looked like. Ron then walked into the room, which was obvious by now that it was his.

He saw I was awake and said, "I was starting to wonder if you'd ever come to." He plopped down on an old couch with a soda. I asked him weakly, "How's Allison been doing?" He popped the pull tab and tore it off, then threw it on the other side of the room.

"She's still in the hospital. At least Ceram is still paying for her medications." I closed my eyes and said, "Well, it's good to hear that she's still fighting." Ron nodded and threw his head back and took a drink from the soda. He asked me, "So, what the hell happened that brought you back here? I thought you said that you'd never come back to this."

I had said that. The night I ran off and left this life behind, I told Ron those exact words. I said, "This girl that I'm friends with got jumped a few nights back. I know it was by a gang, I just don't know which one. I was supposed to go and hunt down Hilton to see if I could get anything out of him."

Ron nearly dropped the canned soda. "You were seriously going after Hilton? That's just like committing suicide, Shun. And you know that. He's the kind that will tell you want, and if he feels like it, he'll kill you. All because he can." I had moved slightly, and that alone caused me pain.

"I know the risk I was taking going after him, but that was the only place I could turn to that would most likely know something." Ron finished off the last of the soda and crumbled up the can and threw it in the direction he threw the pull tab. He said, "Well, kept going with why you came back here."

He motioned to the building with his hands. "The police quickly got involved and came to me and my friends to ask us question. Well, it turned out that the Officer that is leading the investigation saw me with the gang a few years back when we were robbing a store, and he remembers me." Ron finished it up for me. "So now he's trying to pin this girl's assault on you just because of that."

I nodded my head weakly. Ron shook his head. "This world gets more corrupt everyday." I groaned out in pain again. Ron stood up and walked over to the nightstand and rummaged around in it. He said, "Ceram sure did a number on you. I have some pain killers running around here somewhere. They probably won't do much, but they could help."

He slammed the drawer to the nightstand shut and started digging around in something else. "Ah-ha! I found them." He walked in front of me and popped the top on the pill bottle, and handed me several of the pills. I took them dry and thanked him.

I hoped they would kick in fast, because I was starting to hurt more and more as my body tried to heal. Ron sat back on the couch and said, "This girl must be something special if you took a beating from Ceram for her. I take it that you want this girl that you're friends with, to be more than friends. Am I right?"

I could feel the pills already kicking in. "That's part of it. The other part is that she didn't deserve what happened to her. She's too sweet and kind to have been jumped and put in a hospital." Now that the pain was subsiding, my mind was trying to make me sleep.

I tried to keep my eyes open, but it was getting harder and harder for me as sleep started to grip me. I finally allowed my eyes to close, and immediately drifted off to sleep.

_Alice_

I was being checked to see if I was stable or if I'd possibly go back into a coma. The nurses had moved me into another room, but it was still in the coma patient ward. At least I didn't have to look at the other people who were just like I was.

That was traumatic enough for me. The doctor had called up Dan and the others not long after I woke up, so I was expecting them to bust in the room any minute. It felt weird for me to be awake now. I had spent what seemed like forever watching myself sleep and wondering when I'd wake up.

I heard Dan's loud voice down the hall, and soon four of my friends came barreling in the room. I was hugged at the same time by everyone of them. I looked around. Shun still wasn't with them. Julie squealed, "Oh, Alice! Thank goodness you're awake! We were all so worried about you!"

They all let go of me and were standing around my bed again. Now I could talk with them, and tell them what I saw and knew. Runo asked me, "Do you remember what happened to you, Alice?" I nodded my head and told them, "Well, parts of it. I know I was attacked, but I don't know by who. The alley was too dark for me to see their faces."

I quickly added in, "Where's Shun?" All of their faces turned kind of grim looking. Murucho spoke up and said, "Sometime yesterday the police showed up to question us again, and Shun just went off on them. The lead Officer instructed for the four officers with him to handcuff Shun and take him back to the station, and he also said that Shun was the top suspect for the person who hurt you."

I shook my head and told them, "But Shun wasn't the one who attacked me." Runo then said, "But Alice, how do you know that Shun wasn't the one who attacked you if you said you couldn't see their faces?" All eyes were on me as my friends awaited my answer.

I said, "Because I heard their voices. There were only two in the alley, and I heard only two different voices. Neither of them were Shun….And I know he'd never do anything like this to me." I added in, "Murucho, did they take him to the station?"

Murucho shook his head and told me, "No. Shun ran when they tried to handcuff him. They've been looking for him all day. They have his name and face stuck up everywhere they can get it. Plus, they have a police car patrolling every street to look for him. Running didn't help the fact that they already thought he was the one who put you in the hospital since he was the last one with you before you were attacked."

Now this was something I didn't remember. I asked them, "What was I doing outside anyway?" Dan was looking at my IV when he said, "Shun told the cops that you were going out to the park that night for some air, and that he went to make sure you were safe.

He left when you went in a restaurant that was near to Murucho's place because he felt like you wouldn't get in trouble being that close." I remembered parts of it. Like Shun was with me at the park. It now made sense why I was next to the restaurant when I was attacked.

So much had happened in the outside world; the police were questioning my friends non-stop, cops were all over the city, and Shun was somewhere missing and the top suspect in the investigation. Another person then walked into my room. A police officer.

Murucho said, "Alice, this is Officer Allan; the one who is leading the investigation of your attacker." So this was the guy who suspected Shun of being the bad guy, and the one who wanted to try and arrest him when they had no hard evidence. The officer said in a professional tone, "It's good to see that you're finally awake. Maybe now we can put a face to your assailant."

I spoke up and told him sternly, "Shun wasn't the one who did this to me. So call off the search for him." The officer acted like I hadn't said anything, but I knew he heard me. "I'm sorry, but we can't do that. He resisted arrest, and is still considered a suspect."

I sat up in my bed and snapped at him, "But Shun didn't do anything to me!" The officer rubbed the temples in his head and told me flatly, "We can't be for sure about this just yet. You're memory may not be as solid as you think it is. Or your mind could be suppressing the truth because you don't want it to be him. We can't be for sure just yet."

I couldn't believe this. I glared at him and snapped again, "Are you stupid? I know everything that happened to me from when I was attacked till now. I know everything that was said in this hospital room. I may not know that faces of who attacked me, but I do know how many and their voices. And they weren't Shun." The officer kept a stone solid face when he said, "You were in a coma. It's impossible that you know what happened during that time, and even before that you were barely awake."

I clenched my hands into fists and said, "I do know what happened. The first time my friends came and visited me, Dan had to calm Shun down. The day I went into my coma, Shun was in here to visit me by himself. He was crying cause he was saying he shouldn't have left me at the restaurant. And before I woke up, Dan and the others came and saw me in the patient ward and didn't say anything, and Shun wasn't with them either cause you have every cop in this city looking for him. Don't tell me I don't know what's been going on around me. I know everything that happened." Shocked expressions filled the room, even from the officer. I had gotten my point across, and won this round.

* * *

><p>i'm awesome cause i'm jammin to Daughtry. ^^ lol. i just took down our x-mas tree, but i can't get the base undone. o.o lol. i fail. XD my dad also bought a calendar with pictures of outhouse (major wtf moment i know) and each month has a quote and mine i "I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that don't work." I was like, "Why do i have to have the outhouse of failure!" XD lol. only i would get that one. lol. i also just totally messed with my friend by txting her and going, "OMG! I HAVE SOMETHING I NEED TO TELL YOU!" she was like, "WHAT!" my response was, "o.o...I'm sexy and I know it." XD lol. well, i've wasted your time now. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	8. Thousand Word Pictures

_Alice_

The officer looked even more surprised after I made him look like a chump. He turned around and said, "I'll come back when you feel like talking to me and my team." He then walked out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him. It echoed out through the hospital and probably scared every nurse in the wing. The others were still speechless. I said, "I don't trust him."

Murucho pushed up his glasses and said flatly, "None of us do. And we really didn't like him when we noticed that he seemed to keep his focus mainly on Shun." A nurse popped her head in the door and asked us, "Is everything alright in here? I saw that officer slam the door shut and was concerned."

I smiled and said, "Everything's alright. He apparently just has a temper problem." The nurse nodded her head and gently closed the door; completely opposite from what that officer had done. My thoughts floated back to Shun. Where was he anyway?

He had to be well hidden if the police had yet to find him, but even I knew that he couldn't hide forever. I asked, "Have you guys tried to contact Shun since he ran off?" Dan nodded his head and told me, "When we had a chance we tried calling his cellphone several times, and even called up the few family members he has in the city. Nothing."

I bit my lower lip. We had to find him, and make sure he was alright. And I also wanted to show him that I was awake and well after I saw how broken up he was when I went into my coma. I just wanted to bring some peace to mine and his mind.

I asked the others, "Have you heard about when I might be getting out of this place?" They looked at me with worry in their eyes. Runo said to me, "Alice, you just woke up from a coma. You're probably not going to get out of here for a while." That wasn't what I wanted to hear.

The sooner I could get out of this place, the better off I'd be. I sensed already that once I did get out, I'd be bombarded by police officers and their relentless questions. I didn't know where I was better off at. Outside, I could hear the thunder and the raindrops starting to fall.

_Shun_

I woke back up, still in the same bed and same storage unit room. There was a pattering on the metal roof above me, and I guessed it was most likely rain. How long had I been out this time? I sat up, and was surprised that my body wasn't near as sore as it was when I fell asleep.

I looked around the room for Ron, and didn't see hide nor hair of him. The warehouse also sounded still and quiet, which probably meant that the gang was still out on their runs. I moved my legs to the side of the bed, and stood up. I wobbled for a moment before I found my center of balance.

I bent over and rolled up the leg of my pants, and saw the bruises and whelps on my. The side of my knee was exceptionally bad. It was a miracle that it wasn't broken. It hurt to move my knee, but the pain was enough for me to tolerate and walk on.

I walked into the main part of the warehouse where all of the gang members were when Ron brought me in to see Ceram. Sure enough, it was still empty. I walked and looked around the warehouse. Nothing had really changed since I had been there. "What are you doing up?"

I glance out of the corner of my eye and found Ron. He was leaning against the metal wall and drinking another soda. I said, "Just wanted to move around some and see how much has changed in this place." Ron laughed a humorless laugh. "As you can see, everything is pretty much the same…..Nothing ever changes here."

I couldn't have agreed more with him. The boom of thunder rattled the metal walls, and made it seem like the building would collapse. It was made to withstand all kinds of weather though. My legs started to shake under my weight, and I would probably have to sit down soon or else they'd buckle under me.

The rain picked up outside, and was pelting the warehouse. The industrial like lights flickered above us as they tried to stay on during the storm. Odds were that the gang was hiding out somewhere until the rain passed. No way would they be insane enough to be out in this kind of weather.

It had to be one of the worst storms Bay City had seen in several years. I heard a ringing, and looked down at my jeans pocket. My phone. I had completely forgotten about it. I pulled it out and saw the screen was cracked from where Ceram probably hit it with that pipe. I was able to see the caller ID though, and read Dan's name above five missed calls. They were looking for me, and I couldn't let them know where I was at.

Even if it was to tell them that I was safe. For the most part at least. Plus, it could have been one of those police officers trying to make me slip up. Ron was looking at the phone, and waiting to see what I'd do. I sighed, and took the back off of the phone and took the battery out. I then stuck both the phone and its battery back in my pocket, and tried to forget about them.

Ron told me, "You know, you're lucky you got out of this when you did. Or else if you'd stayed, you might have lost your friends a long time ago instead of still having them now." I had known about that for a long time. I had almost lost them one time after I pulled another 'disappearing act', and they had enough of it.

That was when I realized that it was time for me to get my life back. The lights then flickered out, and it went dark. I could still see, and apparently Ron could too. He walked off into another part of the apartment building and came back with a few kerosene lanterns and flashlights.

He tossed me one of the flashlights, and hung up the lanterns on a few hooks that were stuck on the wall. The little bit of light was an improvement from the dark. My legs couldn't hold me up any longer, and I found a chair that was close to me and sat down in it. Ron pulled up his own and sat down as well.

He finished off the last of his soda and tossed it in a box that was a few feet from him. Ron then pulled out his wallet, and I knew what he was looking at. It was another picture of his sister. He would always look at it when he needed to remind himself of who he was and why he was suffering through all of the stress and torment of being in the gangs.

I remembered how he'd used to say everyday, "Man, I can't wait till Allison gets her operation and then I can leave this place." He later realized there was no getting out once you got in. Not without at least some kind of punishment if you were found.

As far as I knew, I was the only one who had gotten away without being found and beaten or killed. _And yet, I still came back here._ But at least it wasn't for the same reason that I joined the gangs in the first place. This was where Ron and I were very much different.

He joined for unselfish reasons. I joined because I was seeking a rush or thrill, and a way to defy my grandfather and show him that he didn't run all of my life. For a long time it had just been a quick high, and like all highs, I needed more and more to feed it.

Soon, this kind of life became an addiction. It was only when things went too far and somebody ended up dead, did I realize that I needed to kick this habit I had. That was when I started to figure out how to escape and get away without being found. My plan was a long shot, but it worked in the end.

Until now. Now I had crawled back because the police were after me when I had done nothing wrong. Ron was still looking at the picture in his wallet when he said, "I haven't seen Allison in months. I wish I could go and visit her now." I was almost in the same boat as him. I wanted to see Alice now that he had mentioned his sister again.

Last I had known of her, she was still in her coma, and I had been forcedly taken out of the room before I could know anything else. How were Dan and the others holding up as well? Had the police officers kept attacking them with questions about Alice? Or had they been harped on with questions about me?

Probably a mix of the two if I knew Officer Allan well enough. From the dim light of the lantern, I saw Ron was starting to cry. I told him, "You better get that out of your system before Ceram and the rest of the gang show up. Or else they'll give you something to cry about."

Ron nodded his head and wiped away the tears in his eyes. When he had first joined the gang, I had helped him out by telling him to do's and don'ts of what to do in the gang. I guess I helped him out because he was the only one who joined out of _good _intentions. I didn't think that had ever happened in the history of gangs.

Or could have happened for that matter. When he told me about his sister, that was when I really wanted to make sure he didn't slip up and lose the only opportunity to get the money he needed for her. This was all around the time though that I was starting to think about leaving the gang.

The storm outside was picking up again. The weather seemed like it was reflecting what I was feeling inside and the thoughts in my mind. Inside, I was a torrent of emotions, while my mind felt cloudy and dark. The sooner I could find Hilton, the sooner this storm might go away and I could see the silver lining again.

_Alice_

"Murucho, can't you work something out with the hospital so I can get released early?" I was whining at the short blonde to try and do anything in his power so I could get out of the hospital and help find the sicko who hurt me. Murucho said nervously, "Alice, I can't do that. And even if I could, I wouldn't do it until we were a hundred percent sure that you were fine and well enough. I'd hate to be the reason that you end up back here because I got you out without the doctor's consent."

The storm outside had gone from heavy to fierce. I wondered if Shun was caught out in it or if he had somewhere warm and dry. Dan had his arms crossed over his chest when he said, "Ok, something's been bugging me since that cop guy left. You said you saw everything that happened while you were in that coma.

How does that work?" It had slipped my mind that I forgot to tell them what I meant during that argument with the officer. I told him, "Well, when I went into my coma, it was like I was seeing everything that happened from the moment I was attacked to when I woke up."

Dan looked confused, so I tried to re-word it so he could hopefully understand. "It was like I was watching myself and what went on around me. That's how I knew what was happening." Murucho pushed up his glasses and said, "Like and out of body experience?" I nodded my head and told them, "At first I thought I was a really bad dream, but I soon realized it wasn't and that what I was seeing was real."

Murucho seemed intrigued, and I thought he was about to go all nerd on me. I continued. "Before I went into my coma and I was in that in between state, I could sort of hear and see everything, but I couldn't remember anything that went on." Murucho rubbed his chin and said, "This is interesting. I've heard about this kind of thing happening with coma patients, but I didn't think it could happen for real."

A loud commotion came from the hall, and Dan and the others ran out of my room and poked their heads out to see what was going on. When the loud noises vanished down the hall, they came back. I asked them, "What was that all about?"

Dan said flatly, "They just brought somebody by that had been shot." I looked at my closed door, as if I'd see the person laying in the gurney. Runo added in, "Probably another gang victim. If it is, then that's a shame. What do they think they will accomplish by doing all of those crimes?" I shook my head. "I don't know."

* * *

><p>i'm listening to the music from the Hunger Games. I love it, but it's kinda sad. : like, all of it. i can't wait for the movies to come out! i'm so going to see it! XD internet explorer also pissed me off yesterday because it wouldn't let me log in to my account on her, so i downloaded Google Chrome and i LOVE it! ^^ now that i'm listening to the Hunger Games music, i kinda wanna write a fic with Shun and Alice if they were in the Hunger Games. o.o so, yay or nay? do tell me. XP well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	9. Would It Matter?

_Shun_

Sometime last night, the storm that was ripping apart the night had ended, and all was quiet outside. Since there were no empty extra storage units, I had gone back to Ron's room and slept there. He had crashed on the couch. The peaceful silence was broken by the sounds of yelling and laughter.

The gang was back. Ron and I figured last night that they had some common sense and stayed out of the weather that was pelting the city last night. Now that the rain was gone, they were on the move and finally got back. Ceram walked into the storage unit and looked at me, then at Ron.

He wore a smile on his face when he said, "It's good to see you kept an eye on our old friend. Remember, we don't want him running off from us again." Ceram laughed when he walked out, and I saw Ron tense up. He mumbled, "I can't stand him."

Nobody could, but they weren't about to admit it in front of Ceram himself. No. Opinions on gang leaders and members were kept until they could be spilt at places like the Lion's Den. That was how a lot of fights broke out. Somebody else walked into the storage unit, and leaned against the door.

The strawberry blonde hair could only belong to Zach. He ignored me and looked at Ron. "You missed a hell of a lot of action last night, Ron. Theo actually got shot and got sent to the hospital. After we left of course. Wouldn't want to be around when the ambulance and cops showed up, now would we?"

Ron shook his head. I didn't know who Theo was, but Zach didn't seem to shaken up by his injury. Zach pushed himself from the doorframe and walked out of the room. I asked Ron, "Who's Theo?" Ron shook his head and told me, "He was a newbie we got about a month ago. He never showed much potential of being any help to the gang, and I had heard that Ceram was planning on getting rid of his so that Theo wouldn't hold the gang back….Looks like they did it."

Ceram had certainly gotten more violent since I had been in the gang, and that worried me. Because when I finally did find out who hurt Alice, I was going to run off again. The gang would have served its purpose by then and would no longer be of use for me.

But if Ceram had shot one of his own gang members just because he might not have been able to run as fast, then it wouldn't look good for me if they found me if I left again. That's when I had decided it. I turned to Ron and told him, "We're going to find Hilton today."

_Alice_

I wanted to know what happened to the poor person who had been shot. I knew well enough that the others were right about it being gang related, but I wanted to know who he was. He could have been a by-stander, in the gangs….Or he could have been the one who attacked me.

The possibilities for my attackers were endless. They could have been anyone on the streets, and walking by hundreds of people and looking for their next victim. Dan and the others had gone downstairs to the hospital's cafeteria, and that left me all alone in my room.

I untangled the wires around my IV line, and freed the wheels at the base of the machine. I walked out of the room with the IV being wheeled next to me since it was connected to my arm. No nurses were at the station since it was their lunch break, and that gave me the chance to check out the patient board.

All the names of patients on this floor of the hospital were written on a whiteboard with a dry-erase marker. I scrolled down the neatly written names, and read the admission time and reason for admittance. I saw my name and read mine. _Assaulted/Coma._ I wiped the coma part out of it, since I wasn't in one still, and I probably wasn't going to go back into one either.

I then found a recent entry, and read his name and reason. _Theo Giovanni; Gunshot wound._ I saw his room number and started to walk down the hall to look for it. A nurse walked past me, but didn't even glance at me. She seemed too focused on her phone. I found the room shortly after, and knocked on the door before entering.

There was a young looking boy laying in the hospital bed, and his chest and stomach were bandaged up. He was groaning in pain, and I saw why; the pain killers in his IV line had been kinked up and couldn't get to them. I moved the line, and the liquid started to drip again. The boy immediately looked like he felt better. His eyes were still shut though. I said softly, "Theo? Theo?"

His eyes opened and revealed two dark blue orbs. He asked weakly, "Am I dead?" I shook my head and told him, "No. You're in a hospital." Could this person really know something about who attacked me? _He's only just a kid though._ His eyes found my IV line. "You're not a doctor. Who are you?" I shifted my weight from foot to foot. "I'm a patient down the hall." His eyes narrowed at me and he asked, "Why are you in my room then? Shouldn't you be in your own room?"

I ignored the tone in his voice, and attributed it to him just being in pain. I told him, "I was just wondering if I could talk to you. Ask you some questions and such." He held a steady gaze with me when he asked, "What type of questions?"

I tried to act nonchalant when I said, "Oh, just questions about what happened to you and what you like to do in your free-time. Is that ok with you?" He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sure. It's not like I have anything better to do in this place." I pulled up a chair and sat down in it. "Ok. So what exactly happened to you? I mean, I know you were shot and all that, but why?"

He didn't seem to want to answer that question. I felt awkward now and said, "Alright, we can come back to that one." My eyes fell on his arm. Three raised scars came together and made something that looked like an "A". _Where have I seen this before?_ Theo snapped at me, "Why are you staring at my arm? I thought you were in here to ask me questions."

I shook myself back to Earth and cleared my throat. "Sorry. I zoned out for a moment. Theo, could you tell me about that scar on your arm?" He looked down at it and said, "It's a gang sign." Now I was getting somewhere. I pretended to act interested. "A gang? Is that why you got shot?"

Theo wouldn't meet my gaze when he said, "Yeah. Our boss decided I was some dead weight and took me out on our night run and shot me." I blinked in surprise. "Wow. That's harsh. But what's somebody like you doing with people like them in the first place?"

Theo shook his head and told me, "I was getting tired of being put down by people in my neighborhood, and joined the gang because I wanted them to be scared of me…..I ended up getting in too deep." This person in the hospital bed was only a kid, and was risking his life every night just because he wanted to stop being bullied. My attention went back to his arm. It was bugging the heck out of me. It then hit me.

_"Shun? What's that mark on your arm?" _I remembered he quickly covered it up, but when I slowed down the memory I was able to see the mark. It was the same symbol as the one on Theo's arm. I quickly asked, "Is there happen by chance somebody in the gang named Shun Kazami?"

Theo looked at me for a moment and said, "Yeah. I'd heard stories about him when I first joined. He had left the gang years ago, but came back the day I was shot. He was saying something about how he needed a place to hide from the cops that were after him. And then our boss decided to get some payback for leaving the gang and ended up beating him with a pipe. I thought it was kind of overkill in my opinion."

I was speechless. Shun? In a gang? _But why, Shun?_ Theo started to cough, and when he took his hand from his mouth it was spotted with tiny drops of blood. I should have gone for a nurse, but I kept carrying on the conversation with this kid. "Where is Shun now?"

Theo looked pale in the face, and his hands were starting to shake. He said weakly, "He should still be at the warehouse." His eyes started to droop. I asked him quickly, "Where is this warehouse?" Theo looked at me for a moment, his eyes glazing over every minute.

The machines on him started to beep like mine had when I went into a coma. I raised my voice and said, "Theo, stay with me. Where is the warehouse?" A little beeping was sounding from outside of his room to signal a nurse that he needed help.

Theo looked at me and said weakly, "It's you. You're that girl they beat, aren't you?" I felt my eyes widen, and I went from the topic of the warehouse to what he was saying. "Theo! Who are you talking about? Who attacked me?" His eyes slowly closed, and one of the monitors on him let out a long droning sound that rang in my ears.

"Theo! Wake up!" Nurses swarmed in with a crash cart, and one of them herded me out of the room. She was asking me, "What were you doing in his room? Or more importantly, out of your own?"

I knew there was no point in running back into Theo's room later to see if he was awake, because a nurse was over at the patient board and erased his name and everything else in his slot. The only chance I had of finding out who put me in this hospital, was dead.

_Shun_

Ron looked like I had just said the most insane thing he had ever heard. He said, "You're kidding with me, right? Please tell me you're still not planning this suicide mission." I shot him a serious look and told him, "I want to find the person or people who hurt my friend, and I'm going to bring them into the police and try and clear my name up as good as I can…..I'll do whatever I have to in order to achieve this."

Ron ran a hand through his hair and started mumbling something to himself. I told him, "Ceram isn't going to let me go anywhere by myself, so he's probably going to send you with me. Either way, you're going to have to come along with me. But you have a choice; on your own will, or by force and threat to have a bullet shot in you like that Theo guy."

I didn't mean to sound harsh, but it was starting to become do or die time. And I couldn't bare to go another minute with knowing that the real criminals were still out there and at large while I was being plastered all over the city. And probably into the next town over.

Ron sighed and said to me, "Shun, you're still as insane and stupid as I remember, and that was one reason why I respected you. You were always willing to take risks to get what you wanted, and I see you haven't changed that about you." I smiled, and Ron did as well.

He asked me, "Are you sure you're able to make the trip though?" I stood up from the bed and showed him that I was able to stand firmly on my legs. "I'm good to go." Ron nodded his head and told me, "I'll go and tell Ceram something like we're going to the Lion's Den and that I'll keep an eye on you and make sure you don't run." I nodded my head and told him, "Sounds legit enough to me." Ron left out of the room. _Don't worry, Alice. I'm almost there to finding who hurt you._

* * *

><p><em>chapter title based off the song Would It Matter by Skillet.<em> last chapter i asked about a Hunger Games book, and i now have a poll on my profile since i know a lot of people don't like to voice their opinions via review or PM. whoa. i just saw the moon out of the window and i thought it was like, something else. o.o that thing is big and bright tonight. it's pretty too. ^^ well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	10. Can't Get Enough Bad News

_Shun_

The clouds from the storm had returned, but they held no threat of rain. At least not for today. Ron had lied to Ceram by telling him that we were just going to the Lion's Den for a drink, and that little act alone could cost Ron dearly if the truth was discovered. The air was thick and humid from yesterday's rain mixing in with the heat of the summer.

Ron kept looking around and down every alley we passed. I knew what he was doing; he was looking for spies sent by Ceram to make sure we were doing what we said we were. Yet, another reason to be on our guard. The further we walked down the street, the more desolate and dead looking it got.

This part of the city had been abandoned long before I was even born. It was the capital for all gang activity, and the gangs left out when Hilton moved in and took over this area of territory. Well, that was one story. The other one was that he actually killed all of the gang members in this area unless they joined him.

I wasn't sure which was true, but they both were possible. I looked up at the buildings that were crumbling from neglect. Windows were broken out from them, and doors were knocked down from where gang members had ransacked the buildings for their contents.

Ron cut my thoughts short when he said, "The depot should be just up ahead if I remember right." We rounded the corner and were faced with a brick building with vines crawling up the sides. The sign was barely visible from the overgrowth, but you could still make out the faded words of it; _Bay City Train Depot._

It had been built in the very years 1900s, and was at one point a lively place for people coming and going from the city. It hadn't been in use since the 60s, and now it had a purpose again; to house Hilton and his gangs. He didn't live in the place. It was more of a headquarters and a meeting place.

His real home was on some isolated island that he had bought with the money from drug cartels. Made you wonder why he chose such a place for his meetings if he could afford an island. Two people were standing outside of the depot. They saw us, that was a safe bet, but they knew whenever somebody came into this part of town, they were looking for Hilton.

Ron and I walked up to them, and the guard to the right said, "Hilton is in his office." Ron and I both nodded and walked through the door. The outside of the building may have been in disrepair, but the inside looked just like it would have when it was first built.

Hilton certainly was more on the top of the food chain than I had remembered. We eventually found his office, and I knocked two times on the door with my knuckles. A voice inside told us, "It's unlocked." Ron turned the knob, but looked at me before opening the door and asked, "You still want to go through with this? It's not too late to go back."

I gave him a look, and he sighed. Ron knew that I couldn't turn back. Not now. Not ever. He pushed open the door, and we saw Hilton sitting on a luxurious couch, and a woman on each side of him. A drink was in his hand as well. Hilton could have anything he wanted; women, drugs, money, _power._

It scared me to know that somebody could gain so much by working around the justice system. But then again, it wasn't that hard anyway. He pointed to two matching chairs behind us and said, "Sit. Have a drink while you're at it."

Ron and I both shook our heads no when Hilton's server lowered down two drinks. "Aw now, come on. I insist." Ron and I exchanged glances. We didn't want to piss Hilton off or offend him, so we each grabbed one of the glasses. Neither of us were drinkers. Not at all. Hilton was looking at us, waiting for us to take a drink. Ron took a sip first, and then coughed. He shot a fake smile and said in a strained voice, "That's….Good stuff."

He coughed again and set it down on a table. I pretended to take a sip, which Ron wasn't smart enough to do apparently. But it was still on my lips, and I got a taste of it. Ron wasn't exaggerating when he was coughing. That stuff was strong, and that little taste burned my throat.

The server came back and handed Hilton a cigarette, and lit it for him before leaving the room. He reminded me of the gang form of Kato. Hilton let out a breath, and it came out as a cloud of smoke. He smiled and asked, "Now what can I do for you boys?" Unlike Ceram's hair, Hilton's was solid gray now.

All of the stress of being the one who ran anything, hadn't aged him gracefully. In the face he still had some young features, but he still looked like he was middle-aged instead of his yearly 30s. I spoke up and said, "I just wanted to see if you knew anything about this girl who got jumped a few nights ago in an alley near the Marakura's mansion."

He stroked his chin, the cigarette still held between his fingers. He asked me for a description, and I gave him one of Alice. I wasn't about to reveal her name to him. That might put her at risk again. Ron had his eyes fixed on Hilton, and looked nervous. Almost like he was about to jump out of the chair and run out of the room.

I had to admit, Hilton was threatening, but not _that _threatening. At least, not to me. Hilton thought some more before saying, "My sources mentioned something about that attack, but I don't who it was. It wasn't deemed as important, so I wasn't given all of the details."

A wave of disappointment crashed into me. I was sure that Hilton would know. He was the one who was tied in with every action of the gangs. How could he not know about this? He said, "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you anything about the ones who attacked this girl, but I was told of a place that they stay around a lot." My interest was sparked, and a sliver of hope came back to me. Hilton continued.

"My source had told me that two guys from Donovan's had attacked some orange haired girl around the location you gave me. No names, and no descriptions of them though." Donovan's. Again, of all places. If I went there, I'd be going deeper into danger. Donovan's was an underground network of drug dealers, who will kill without second thoughts. Or any thoughts.

There were more fights there than what was seen at the Lion's Den, and more deaths there than the deaths on the streets. You were lucky if you came out alive in that place. I stood up and said, "Thanks for telling us this." Hilton nodded his head. Ron then stood up next to me, and we both walked out of the room and out of the depot.

Ron looked less tense now that were out of there. He looked at me and said, "Please tell me you aren't going to Donovan's. Even you aren't that insane."

Donovan's meant two things right now; answers, or a death wish. I heard the wail of police sirens across the city. They were still looking for me, and would keep hunting me down until they had me in custody. I told Ron flatly, "You don't have to go to Donovan's, but I am."

_Alice_

The nurses made me go back to my room, and as soon as they got me back in my bed the others showed up. Dan was smiling and patted his belly. "And I thought everyone said hospital food was nasty." Runo rolled her eyes and told him, "Dan, you think everything is good."

They saw the nurse in the room and Murucho asked, "Is everything alright?" The nurse nodded her head and told them, "We're just getting your friend situated back in her bed since she decided to go for a little walk and visit patients earlier." I narrowed my eyes at her until she walked out of the room.

Runo asked me, "Why did you get out of your bed, Alice?" I sighed and told her honestly, "I wanted to see about that kid that got shot. I thought maybe he knew something about who attacked me if he was in a gang or something." My voice dragged slower than it should have.

Julie asked me, "Well? Did you get anything out of him?" I looked down at my white hospital blankets and said to them, "I found out why he was shot, and that he knew something about who hurt me. But he died before he could tell me anything." I left out the part about the warehouse, and Shun. I felt like the others weren't ready to know about Shun being in a gang. Or where he was right now.

They'd find out eventually, but not now. And not from me. When everything was over, and if Shun didn't get thrown in jail, I'd make sure he told the others the secret he'd been hiding from them for most of his life. I wasn't about to be his messenger. But why had he joined the gangs?

The more I dwelled on this, the more confused I got. I glanced out of my hospital window and saw that night was falling through the cloudy sky. The others saw it too. Murucho said, "We should get going. Those officers don't want us out after dark today. Something about them wanting to ask us more questions…..I'm starting to get like Shun and wishing they'd just stop already."

Dan chimed in and said, "Yeah. We've told them everything we know, and then some." They stayed a little bit longer before saying their good-byes and then leaving. I laid back deeper into my hospital bed, and sighed. An image of Theo kept flashing in my mind.

The very gang that Shun was with right now, had shot and killed Theo. Who was just a kid. What would stop them from doing the same to Shun? A nurse then wheeled in my dinner, and then left. I didn't touch it. I wasn't hungry. I hadn't been hungry since I spoke with Theo.

I wondered if anyone else had replaced his slot on that patient whiteboard. Probably. No, most likely. My eyes started to grow heavy, and I fell into a dream. I was back to where I was when I was attacked. _No. I don't want to relive this another time._ I noticed something in the background, that I hadn't noticed the first time.

Another person. No, _two _more people. They were blacked out by the shadows just like my attackers were. Was this just a trick being played on me by my sleeping mind? It wasn't. When I went back to what I saw while I was in a coma, I remembered faintly seeing them there.

I just hadn't given them much notice since I was too fixed on my beaten body. The taller man in the background stood proud looking, and I could see the whites of his teeth, which told me he was smiling. The smaller one next to him, was leaning against the wall of the alley.

I could see that his head was hanging kind of low, almost as if in shame. Body language told me he didn't want to be doing this. Or watch it happen for that fact. And just like before, once I was beaten to their liking, they walked off. All four of them.

My eyes opened back up, and I felt tearstains on my cheeks. I wiped them away with the palm of my hand. Who were these people? Why had they picked me out of everyone in the city? Why couldn't my reality be my dream for once, so I could wake up from it whenever I wanted?

* * *

><p>it got cold today! -warms feet- -.- i love this Hunger Games music by District Tribute. I'm thinking up titles for the story. i kinda got it narrowed down by a few, but i'm still going back and forth. i think i'll start on it after i finish either this story or <em>The Puppetmaster<em>. so that way i don't run the risk of somebody else beating me to the story even though i fell like i'm the first to have thought it up. eh, oh well. -shrugs-well, **check out my profile for a poll regarding the Hunger Games spin-off** thing. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	11. Friend Or Foe?

_Shun_

Ron stared at me with disbelief. I would have been doing the same thing if I had thought about going to Donovan's several years ago, but this time it was different. I had things at stake now. Ron shook his head and said, "You can't go there." I sighed and told him, "I don't have much of a choice."

Ron scratched the back of his head, and sighed. "What are you planning on doing if you do go to Donovan's? You still don't know who hurt your friend. What are you gunna do, ask everyone in there if they did it? It won't work, Shun. Back out of this while you still have a chance to. You've gone as far as you can." I didn't say anything. My hands were clenched next to my sides.

I didn't want to admit defeat. Not this way. There wasn't anyway that I was about to turn around just yet. I shook my head and told Ron, "No. I haven't gone as far as I can." He didn't say anything. Ron would try and talk me out of going to Donovan's until he'd run out of breath, and I wasn't going to let him convince me to turn back.

Nightfall was creeping up on us. We'd stayed out longer than Ron had told Ceram. Hopefully neither of us would get in any kind of trouble. For all we knew, Ceram might not have even been at the warehouse. When we did get back to the warehouse, it was pitch dark outside.

By the looks of things, I was right about Ceram and the gang not being there. Odds were they were on another night run. _Or shooting somebody else again._ Ron stopped by the 'kitchen' and grabbed a soda from the little mini fridge. He asked me, "Want one?" I shook my head.

I hadn't been hungry or thirsty since I was told that Hilton knew nothing of use to me other than where the attackers hung out at. Ron walked around the entire warehouse; checking in ever storage unit and hall. I asked him when he came back, "What are you doing?"

He checked another room and sat down across from me. "Checking to make sure everyone is really not here." I raised an eyebrow and gave him a quizzical look. What was he talking about? He looked strung out like he had when we were talking with Hilton.

In fact, he had looked like this all day; nervous, alert, paranoid. I asked him, "Why would you be worried if somebody else was here?" Even though he had checked the entire building, he still kept looking around as if somebody would suddenly materialize before us.

Ron ran a hand through his hair and said, "There's something important I need to tell you, and if the others hear me then there's no telling what they'd do to me."

I stared at him. What was so important that the entire gang was keeping Ron shut up? He was biting his lip when I snapped at him, "Just spill it already, Ron. What's going on?" He looked straight at me and said, "I know who hurt your friend."

_Ceram_

"_What!"_ I had exploded with rage at one of my underlings. Zach to be more specific. When Ron had come to me saying that he and Shun were going to the Lion's Den, I had felt that something wasn't right about what he was telling me. Ron was always a horrible liar.

Out of paranoia, I had sent Zach to spy on them and to report back to me what he found out after following them after a few hours. He had found me and the gang while we were on a night run, and staking out a possible location to rob.

Zach nodded his head and told me, "They went to Ceram today, sir. Apparently Shun's trying to find out who hurt that girl." I growled and asked in a rough voice, "And Ron was with him?" Zach nodded. My teeth clenched. _That little twerp is going to pay for this._

I asked him harshly, "Where are they now?" My entire gang was gathered around me, curious to know the outcome of this. Zach told me, "They went back to the warehouse. But only after they finished talking about Donovan's." My interest was sparked now. "Donovan's? What were they talking about that for?" The gang slinked into the shadows as a car drove past us.

Zach continued. "Apparently Hilton only knew that our guys spent a lot of time at Donovan's. Ron was trying to talk Shun out of going there, but he seemed to be failing miserably." I sly grin came across my face. I said, "I say, we let our old friend go to Donovan's. It should be an interesting change of pace. Especially if we pay off somebody to start something up while he's there."

The idea sent a chill down my back. I could never get enough of watching my enemies suffer. Zach asked me, "But what about Ron? I'm sure he's told Shun the truth by now." I stuck my hands into my pockets and felt my the cold metal of my pocketknife touch my fingers. I forgot where I had gotten this one from. I had so many that I couldn't keep count of them. I told Zach, "Don't worry about Ron. I saw we act like we know nothing, and let things unravel by themselves."

_Shun_

"You knew all this time!" I snapped at Ron. He just told me he knew who hurt Alice. Ron flinched when I yelled and he said quickly, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you! I wasn't supposed to speak a word of it to anyone, even if they knew about it." I stood up and glared down at him.

"Tell me what happened. Now!" I was furious. Ron had known all this time, and never even bothered to tell me until now. He wouldn't look up at me when he said, "I had overheard Ceram plotting another way to find you, and Zach had been sent to spy on you that night and saw you walking with that girl. He assumed she was your girlfriend or something like that, and Ceram saw her as a way to get to you."

Ron took a shaky breath before continuing. "I tried to stop them, but Ceram decided to turn the tables on me and forced me to come along. When we were walking back to the warehouse, he told me that I was now part of what we had done to that girl, and that if I ratted anyone out I'd be dragged down with them and my sister wouldn't receive anymore of the treatment she needs. You have to understand the place I was put in."

Even though I knew that Ron didn't have much of a choice, I was still fuming at him. He could have easily found me and told me, and I wouldn't have had to take a beating from Ceram and returned to all of _this._ I wouldn't have wasted my time and risked my neck going to Hilton for answers.

Things could have been easier from the start if only he had told me. "Shun?" I shot a sharp look at Ron and asked him harshly, "Other than you and Ceram, who else was there?" I saw Ron gulp before he said, "I've already said enough. I've probably hurt myself or my sister just by telling what I have."

I growled and snapped, "So what does it matter if you tell me more!" Ron flinched back in the chair again. He said shakily, "I'm sorry." I stepped back, and the gang walked inside the warehouse. Ceram wore a smile on his face, that couldn't mean anything good. I shot a glare down at Ron. The only ally, the only one I could rely on in this God awful place, was just as corrupt and two-faced as the rest of them.

_Alice_

I smiled at the doctor that was in my room with Dan and the others standing around me as well. "I can go home today?" The doctor nodded his head and said, "We've run the tests over and over again, and everything seems to be in good order. You're well enough to leave." Julie clapped her hands together and said, "This is great! Alice can finally leave this depressing place!"

The doctor raised an eyebrow at the silver haired girl, then turned back to me. He said, "Just promise us that you won't do anything too stressful. We wouldn't want to see you back in the coma ward anytime soon." I laughed and told him, "Trust me, I don't want to be in there again." He smiled and turned back to the others. "Keep an eye on her and make sure everything seems to be going fine. If you suspect something might be wrong, bring her in for a check-up."

Runo nodded her head and told them, "Will do." The doctor left out of the room and Murucho pushed up his glasses. "I'll get Kato to gather your things for you Alice, and I'll take care of the discharge papers." I smiled and thanked Murucho for looking out for me. While the others were helping Kato carry my belongings out of my room, I had changed out of my hospital gown and into some more comfortable clothing; jeans and a short sleeve shirt.

I was also relieved that the IV line was finally out of my arm. That thing hurt more than I thought it would have, and it was a major inconvenience when trying to sleep. Dan and the others walked back into the room and the brunette told me, "We're going downstairs to get something to eat since we just finished carrying everything. You gunna come with us?" I wasn't really in the mood for more hospital food, so I turned them down. "I think I'm going to sit around in the courtyard area until you guys finish up."

They shrugged and Runo reminded me not to stress myself out or I'd end up right back here. I rolled my eyes and told her I wouldn't. The courtyard was outside. Half of it was covered by a roof, and the other half was outside and lit up by the sun. Plants were stuck everywhere and had flowers blooming on them.

I walked through the maze of flowers, and saw a small fountain with benching surround it. A girl was sitting in a wheelchair by the side of the fountain. She looked frail and weak. I walked up next to her and saw she was leaned over and spinning her hand in the water of the fountain.

She saw my reflection in the water, and looked up with a friendly smile on her face. "Hiya." I sat on one of the benches near her. I said back, "Hi." This girl was slightly pale in the face, and must have been pretty sick. She asked me, "Are you a patient here?" I smiled and told her, "I was. I'm leaving today."

The girl placed her thin hands in her lap and said, "I wish I could leave today. I've been here for such a long time." In the sun, her brown hair turned a faint shade of red. I asked her, "What are you here for?" She gave me a sad smile and said, "I have some kind of illness that I was born with, but nobody knew until a few years ago. I had to go and have an operation that would help me, but my family didn't have enough money for it."

I was focused on her story. I asked, "Oh my. How did you get the operation then?" The girl's sad smile turned into one of pride. She said, "My brother told me he had gotten a job and was working non-stop to get the money. Right now I'm just receiving medicine, and when I don't need it anymore, I'll be able to go back home."

I could see in her eyes that she thought highly of her brother. I said, "Your brother sounds like a great guy." The girl wheeled her wheelchair over to a plant and picked a flower from it, and played with the leaves on it. "He is. I haven't seen him in a few months. He's been busy with work."

She smelled the flower and stuck it behind her hair. I asked her, "What does your brother do?" The girl shrugged and told me, "He never said. What's your name?" I stood up from the bench and said, "Alice." The girl smiled again and said, "My name's kind of like that. It's Allison."

I smiled and saw Dan and the others waving for me to go with them. I said to the girl, "It was nice talking with you, Allison, but I have to get going. Good luck, and if I see your brother I'll tell him you said hi." She flashed another smile at me and said, "Ok." I ran out of the courtyard and met up with Dan and the others. I could finally leave this place.

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><p><em>chapter title based on the song Friend Or Foe by T.A.T.U. <em>omg i am so happy for the weekend. I'm sorry if my uploads are slow tomorrow since it's an all day Gleekathon. XD yes, ima Gleek and proud. check out my profile if you have't for a poll on a future story. thanks ya. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	12. I Might Not Be Able To Return

_Alice_

I had never been happier to return back to Murucho's massive home. Kato and the other staff members started to carry my things back to my room that I was staying at before everything got all complicated. There was something I noticed though; the police were still in the mansion.

This whole ordeal was far from over. I could see that right now. A few of the officers glanced at me, but turned back to each other and kept on talking. I didn't see that Officer Allan guy running around anywhere, and I wondered if he was out hunting down Shun.

A pang hit me in my chest when I thought about where Shun was. He was in some warehouse with a gang that had shot a kid who got involved with a bad thing. For all I knew, they could have turned on Shun by now. No. Thinking like this wasn't going to help anyone.

I had to stay positive, but the thought kept coming to my mind. Theo had told me that Shun left the gang years ago. That'd mean that Shun didn't want anything to do with them anymore, right? _But he still went back to them._ Then again, he was also being chased by the entire Bay City Police Force and was going to be charged for my assault and no telling what else.

Shun was desperate, and he took the measures needed to stay safe. Even if it may have backfired right in his face. I wished that I was able to find a way to talk with Shun, and try and make more sense of what was going on with him. I then thought of something.

Theo had told me the gang was in a warehouse, right? There were only so many old, not used warehouses in the city. I was sure if looked enough, then I'd eventually find the one Theo was talking about.

But there was no way that Dan and the others would let me out of the mansion right after I go out of the hospital, and the police would probably be dogging me every step of the way. There had to be a way. There just had to be.

_Shun_

Unfortunately, I still had to share the storage unit with Ron since I didn't have one of my own. But I was pretty sure they were about to give me that Theo kid's room. I didn't say anything to Ron. I was still pissed at him for not telling me that he knew something about Alice's attack.

Ron was sitting on the couch and drinking a soda, as per usual. I had laid down on the bed and turned my back to him. Which may not have been the best idea since I had no clue if I should trust him anymore. From the little information Ron gave me, I had found out that he and Ceram were there only because he was being blackmailed. _That still doesn't let him off for not telling me the truth._

But there were still two others that had been the ones to hurt Alice, and I had no idea of their names or faces because Ron wouldn't tell me. He'd said that it would get him into more trouble than he would already be in if Ceram found out that he spoke about what they had done.

I didn't care. If he'd risk his neck to tell me he was there, why wouldn't he risk it further to tell me who did it? He couldn't do that now though since the entire gang was back at the warehouse after a night run. I felt trapped in this place. I was surrounded by the very people who had hurt Alice in order to get to me, and they all knew about it.

They also knew what I'd do and that I'd eventually come back for help. I had played right into their hands like an idiot, and Ron had been there to help them. My only ally in this insane and upside down world that belongs to the gangs. Guess that only proved that you can't trust anyone that lives this kind of life.

You can't even trust your own instincts. Since Ron wouldn't tell me who the other two people involved were, I didn't have much choice but to go to Donovan's. I knew that they were in this gang, so that should narrow down my search. I knew Ron would refuse to go though.

He had told me that was one reason he spilt it about knowing who hurt Alice; because he thought it would keep me from going to Donovan's. If only he had told me the names and faces of the people, then I still wouldn't have to go there. I turned around and saw that Ron had fallen asleep on the couch.

The rest of the warehouse was dead silent as well. That told me that the gang was asleep. Now I could make my move. A stupid one at that, but what other choice did I have? I climbed off the bed and silently walked out of the storage unit without waking Ron up. Because I knew if I did then he wouldn't let me leave.

My footsteps echoed slightly against the metal walls and roof, but it wasn't loud enough to wake anyone. Since I wasn't sure about where exactly Donovan's was, I had to find one of Ceram's maps that had every gang related place marked on it.

I stepped into the old office that was once used for paying the rent for the storage units. I dug around in the filing cabinets and found a map. I unfolded it on the table and flipped a lamp on so I could read. The edges of the map had been yellowed from use and time, but I could still read Ceram's chicken scratch handwriting. I found Donovan's written on the map about a mile from the warehouse.

It would be an easy walk, and the path was virtually free from the police that were looking for me. Just in case I forgot the route, I tore the section of the map and folded it into my pocket. I then remembered something, and kept digging in the filing cabinets and desk.

I then found my hand pistol that Ceram had swiped from when they decided to tie me to that water pipe and beat me. All of the rounds were still in it, which was a relief since I was sure that he'd taken them out and used them for his own. I noticed something though about one of the bullets.

It was different from the others. One round had been shot and replaced. My mind immediately flew to Zach telling Ron and I that Ceram had shot that Theo kid. Ceram had used my gun to shoot that kid. If the police found out about this, and if they traced the ownership down to me, then I was certainly skrewed.

_Just like Ceram to skrew things up further._ I pushed the thought of my own weapon killing that kid, and stuck the pistol back under my belt. Now wasn't the time for sympathy. I searched around the office for anything else that may have been of use to me. I had found some extra bullets that worked with my pistol, and stuck them in my other pocket.

I didn't know how messy Donovan's might get. I didn't find anything else to my advantage, and when I felt that it was safe outside of the office, I stepped out and made my way towards the exit of the warehouse. The person they had on guard duty was Zach, and he was asleep thankfully. I silently walked past him and out of the door, but I didn't see him open his eyes and smile slyly at me.

_Ceram_

Zach had predicted Shun perfectly. He had just come to me again and said while he pretended to sleep, Shun and slipped out of the warehouse. He was right that Shun would slip out tonight to go to Donovan's. I had made sure that everything that Shun would need was in plain sight and easy for him to find, and he had taken the bait.

Now, we could take out two birds with one stone. Shun was going to the most dangerous gang oriented place in the city, and I had made sure that something was going to break out there. And now that Shun had left, I was able to blame Ron for his disappearance and get the little twerp back for lying to me.

Things kept getting more and more interesting to me, even if they were slightly predictable. I asked Zach, "Are our boys set up at Donovan's." Zach nodded his head and told me, "You should know that they rarely leave that place, so why even ask?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I just want everything to go smoothly." By our boys, I meant the two members of my gang who I had sent to take care of that little girl. I turned back to Zach and said, "I want you to follow Shun to Donovan's and when everything goes down, report back to me. Got it?" Zach nodded his head and left the warehouse to do as I asked. I smiled. _It's good to be in power._

_Shun_

Desolate streets were never a good sign, but it also meant that everyone was inside. Which was pretty good for me since nobody would see me and recognize me as the person who was plastered on the media and registered as a dangerous individual. I stopped walking and pulled out the section of map from my pocket. According to it, I was only a block or so away from Donovan's.

I sighed and folded the map back up and kept walking the route that I was supposed to follow to reach my destination. It was an easy building to spot when I got there. It looked like it was about to crumble in on itself, and if I focused I could hear music blaring. Odds were there was a rave party going on downstairs in the basement, which wasn't unheard of.

They were known to have one every week, or even two. I walked up to the broken and crooked door. There wasn't even anyone watching the place. _They must feel pretty sure that nobody is going to bother them._ That was saying something when even the cops knew about this place and it was so dangerous that even they didn't want to get involved with it.

The upper portion that you could see from the street was gutted of its belongings and holes were littering the entire place. It was a mask for what was underneath. I had heard stories that there were about two or three floors underneath this building that were used for storage.

If I remembered right, this was an old packing building. The bottom floor was for the rave parties, and the others were for the drug deals that took place on a daily basis. I found the staircase, and forced the door open so I could go down into the belly of this place. A wave of smoke from cigarettes and other drugs crashed into me.

It was strong from this distance, and I feared how strong it was at the source. The smell turned my stomach, and threatened to make me throw up. I forced myself through it and started to walk down the stairs. The booming music got louder, and when I hit the first basement floor, I was greeted with part of the rave party.

Apparently this was one of the biggest raves they'd had, and it flooded into all of the basement floors. I started to look around. It would be a miracle if I could find anyone from my gang in this sea of people. Or anyone I knew for that fact. I sighed and started to look over the crowd, unaware of the things that had been planned to come.

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><p>omg only like 30 more minutes till the all day Glee Marathon! -goes Gleek mode- lol XD and i finished this with plenty of time to spare. ^^ i foresee a lot more conflict in store for this. o.o do you see it? lol. check out my profile for a poll if you havent done so already. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	13. Help Me

_Shun_

It was virtually impossible to get through the crowds of people, along with the flashing lights blinding my eyes. I tried to find a high point in the room, and the only one was a table. Which was covered with people passed out and dancing on it. I felt like giving up on trying to find anyone that I'd recognize in this madhouse.

Maybe Ron had been right to try and stop me from coming to this insane asylum. The music only seemed to get louder and louder every song, and my ears felt like they would start to bleed. After another twenty minutes of poor scanning of the place, I found the stairs and walked down them to the next part of the underground basements.

The rave that was going on in there, was worse than the one above. Twice as many people were crammed into a smaller room, and the music bled in with the music from the part above. I forced myself through the people again, and looked around for familiar faces.

Nobody looked like they were from my gang. What if they weren't here tonight, and I had done this for nothing? I then spotted the door that led into the room where the drug deals took place. There was a chance that they might be in there, and there was also a chance that I'd get shot if I went in there uninvited.

Going in there was a step too far, and only one for a last resort. I wasn't about to be even stupider and walk in there. I did a double scan on the rave party on the second floor. I sighed and gave up on looking there, and went back upstairs. There may have been a ton of people in there as well, but at least the crowd was thinner here than downstairs.

My feet were killing me, and I needed somewhere to sit. There was a make-shift bar in the far corner, and I saw a few empty stools that I could sit on. If I made it to them in time. I sat down at one, and when the bartender asked if I wanted anything, I turned him down.

I glanced at my life, and felt everything slow down. Finally, two familiar faces; Colt and Eric. The only two from my gang that I had seen in this God awful place. Was it them?

Were they the ones who hurt Alice? Or were they just here at this rave for the hell of it? I tried to get closer to them without being noticed so I could hear their conversation. I caught a snip of what Colt said. "3...2...1." When he hit one, gunfire exploded.

_Alice_

It was just before everyone had gone to bed that I gathered Dan and the others. The police had turned in now, and we were no longer being watched like hawks. Dan yawned and asked, "Alice, what's the deal with keeping us up?" I looked at all of them and said seriously, "I know where Shun's at."

Their eyes widened. Murucho asked me, "Where's he at?" I looked around to make sure there were no police that had woken up to try and find a bathroom. I said in a hushed voice, "He's at some old warehouse. I don't know which one though."

Dan raised an eyebrow at me and asked, "How do you know this, Alice?" I shook my head and told him, "How I know it is not important. What is important is that I don't think Shun's safe right now. We had to find him." The others were looking at me as if I were crazy.

Which I probably seemed like at the moment. Runo placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Alice, you're not going anywhere after just getting out of that hospital." I pleaded to her, "Runo, you have to believe me when I say that we need to find Shun. I know you're probably not going to let me leave, but you have to let me."

Dan was biting his lip when he said, "It might not hurt to look around and see if we can find this place. We could make Alice stay in the car while we look around." I didn't care if I had to sit out while the others looked for Shun, just as long as we found him. Runo sighed and said, "Alright, Dan. But I'm blaming you if something happens to us."

I smiled and thanked Runo for giving me some leash. Murucho said, "I'll tell Kato to get the limo started up." We nodded our heads and followed Murucho downstairs. Kato was already in the limo out front, and ready to go. Murucho pointed out to us, "We can't stay out too long. Last thing we want to do is make those officers mad because we left." We nodded our heads as we climbed into the limo.

_Alice_

Kato wasn't driving like a madman, but he was well above the speed limit. All of us were holding onto something, and I was sure that everyone was thinking Kato had gone senile or had too much sugar in the coffee he was drinking. We started to get into the old business district of Bay City, which had been overrun by crime.

Lucky for us, Murucho had this limo bulletproof and locked. No criminals were about to get their hands on us as we drove through this part of town. We started seeing more and more warehouses. Julie pointed out one, but it was easy to see that it was still in business.

Somehow. Kato then drove past a place called the Lion's Den. Dan raised an eyebrow and said, "What is this place? Some kind of strip joint?" Murucho said, "I think it's just a bar, Dan." We turned left past the bar, and were faced with more warehouses. Julie asked me, "Alice, are you sure that Shun's in one of these?"

I nodded my head. One of the metal buildings caught my eye. _That's it._ I said up to Kato, "Stop at this one!" Kato pulled off to the side of the road and parked the limo. I got out, but Runo grabbed my hand and yanked me back inside. She snapped at me, "Have you lost it? This is one the most dangerous places in the city, and you're just going to run out in these streets after being attacked once already?"

The others seemed to have the same thoughts running through their minds. I said to them, "But I thought we were going to check them out so we could find Shun." Murucho scratched the back of his head and said, "That was when we thought it would be out of this part of town."

I closed my eyes and said, "Fine. Let's go." Murucho was giving the order to Kato for him to drive, and I opened the door and shot out towards the warehouse. I heard the others yelling at me to come back, but I ran into the warehouse. I had forgotten that Theo said that it was the home base for his gang, but by the looks of everything it was empty. Nobody was inside.

Dan and the others came running in after me. Runo snapped at me, "Alice! Are you crazy!" I turned around and put a finger to my lips to quiet them. Now that the warehouse was silent, I could hear the sound more clearly. It was a low moan of pain. I started to run towards it, thinking that it may belong to Shun. I was then led to a storage unit, and laying on the ground was somebody other than Shun.

He was beaten to a pulp, and blood was everywhere on him and on the floor. I knelt beside him and got a look at his face. He looked like that girl from the hospital, Allison. He opened his eyes slightly and looked at me for a moment. "You're that girl. The one Shun's been trying to help."

He knew Shun! The others ran inside the room, and gasped when they saw the boy on the floor. The boy said weakly, "You've got to find him…..Shun's not safe now….."

The others were in too much shock to say anything, so it was up to me. "Where's Shun at? Why is he in trouble?" When I looked at the boy a little bit longer, I realized who he was. He was one of the others who were in the alley when I was attacked. The one who didn't want to be there or do what he was doing.

He moaned again and said, "He's a few miles from here…At a place called Donovan's…..Ceram…..Ceram is planning on hurting him." Ceram? Who was that? It didn't matter. Somebody was trying to hurt Shun, and it was probably the same guy who beat this guy to a bloody pulp.

This guy looked like he wasn't going to last much longer. I said to the others, "Call an ambulance or something." Murucho nodded his head and whipped out his cellphone. He said to me before punching in the numbers, "But I don't know where we're at." _Crap._ The guy started to cough and said, "Just tell them….The warehouse near the Lion's Den….They'll know where to go." Murucho nodded and proceeded with calling for help.

_Shun_

The people inside fell into a panic at the sound of the gunshots. There were screams of terror and fear, and the shots kept firing. I saw Colt and Eric looking around, each with a gun in their hands. They were looking for me. Over to my left, I saw Ceram and almost the entire gang.

I had fallen into another one of their traps. They were trying to heard all of the panicking people out of the building. Ceram was looking at each one of them to make sure they weren't me. I was staying crouched behind the bar, and shaking. They were definitely planning on killing me, and they might even succeed if I wasn't exceptionally careful.

I moved slightly, and knocked a bottle of Vodka off its shelf. It fell to the ground and shattered. The liquid flooded onto the floor, and the smell of the alcohol made me cough. I peered over the top of the bar and saw that everyone had been cleared out of the building. Except for me.

Ceram's cold eyes were fixed at the bar, and I heard him say, "Zach, go check it out." I started to panic, and did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed another bottle and was ready to use it for a weapon since my pistol had gotten knocked off of me during the pandemonium. Before Zach had a chance to check behind the bar, I was already looking around for an escape. I didn't have many choices.

The only one was the one that Ceram and the gang were standing in front of, and I was sure that the rest of the gang was upstairs in the gutted part of the building. I peered around the bar and found my gun a few yards away from me. I could take care of Zach with the bottle, and then make a dash for the gun.

I saw Zach was closing in on the bar, and when he peered over to see what was behind it, I jumped up and knocked him out. Glass and alcohol exploded everywhere as he fell to the floor unconscious. I scrambled towards the gun, but slipped on the spilled Vodka. I heard Ceram say, "There he is! Get him!"

I found traction and dove for my gun. Now I had it back, and pointed it at Ceram and the gang members he had with him. Ceram laughed and said, "You really think that you have enough rounds to shoot all of us?" I gulped. He was right. I wouldn't even be able to put a dent in the numbers he had.

I looked around, and found a gas pipe above them. _Let's hope there's still something in there._ I shot the pipe and a white cloud of gas exploded in the room. Blind gunshots were fired in an attempt to hit me. The gas had drifted upstairs and into the empty upper portion of the building.

The gang members in there were coughing and trying to find there away around. I had pulled my shirt over my face to keep as much of the gas out of my lungs as I could. I heard Ceram yell, "He's getting away!" I ran into the wall. I couldn't see anything from the thickening gas. I finally felt my way around and found the door. The gas started to thin out when I did, and one of the gang members were able to see me and started to shoot.

I ran out of the door and into the streets. It wouldn't take them long to find me if I didn't hide. I needed somewhere to stay hidden, and quick. My eyes found another old and abandoned building, and I started towards it. The door had been boarded shut, and I was unable to tear the boards off.

I then found a broken out window, and knocked the rest of the glass out and jumped inside. I landed on the weak wood floor and pressed myself against the wall. I heard Ceram and the gang run past me, and I let out heavy breathes. A pain was coming from my side, and I held tightly to the spot. I felt something warm on my hand, and looked at my palm. It was covered with blood. They shot me.

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><p>o.o i have had a boring day. so i has nothing fun to say. lol. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	14. What Was It All For Then?

_Shun_

I put my hand back on my side and took slow breathes. I couldn't afford to start and panic. I had to get out of this old building, and find some form of help. I used the wall to push myself up to my feet, and still kept my hand tightly gripping my side that had the bullet wound in it.

Pain almost brought me back down, but I fought through it and stayed on my feet. For a long time I had wondered how badly a bullet wound hurt, and now that I knew I wished that I hadn't thought about it. The pain was excruciating, and I just wanted it to go away.

The floorboards groaned when I walked on them, and I hoped they wouldn't cave in on me. If they did, then I'd never get out of this building. I looked around for another door that wasn't boarded up, but it seemed like they were all shut off. The only way out, was the same way I got in; through the broken window.

I looked out of it and down to the ground. It wasn't more than three feet, but I knew with the pain I was in that it wouldn't be an easy task. I could feel myself growing dizzy from blood loss, and knew that I had to get out of there. And fast. I threw one leg over the windowsill, and then the other.

Now I was sitting in the window, and slid down. My feet hit the concrete sidewalk, but my knees buckled under my weight. I caught myself with my hands, and pushed myself back up to my feet. I looked around to make sure that Ceram or any of the other gang members were going back this way to double check for me. Did they know they shot me?

If they did, then they might have given up and left me for dead. But I really doubted that Ceram would allow me to die without him watching me suffer. I kept my hand on my injured side to keep pressure on the wound. It wasn't much, but it might have helped.

It'd be a long walk till I found some trustworthy help in this part of town. Not only were most of the buildings empty, there were also other gangs that would jump on somebody injured like vultures. I'd be lucky to find anyone when I started to think about it.

I also had to add in the fact that pretty much everyone in the city knew that the police wanted me in custody. That wasn't helping me either. A jolt of my pain shot through me from my side, and brought me down to my hands and knees. My hand was clutching my side even harder now.

At that moment, I would have taken that beating from Ceram over this. The corners of my vision started to go blurry, and I found it harder to breathe. I fell over on the sidewalk, and the last thing I remembered was seeing two headlights coming my way.

_Alice_

We waited around impatiently for the ambulance to show up for the guy that was in the warehouse beaten to a pulp. The only reason we were waiting was to make sure that the ambulance found the right place. During all that time, the guy had passed in and out of consciousness.

I was sure he was going to die. The ambulance pulled up and loaded the guy into the back and drove off after some short questioning. All of us then piled into the limo and started to look around for Donovan's. Only because that guy who was beaten said that was where Shun was.

But none of us had the slightest clue to where this place was though. All we could do was drive around, and hope to find it and not get jumped at the same time. Kato rounded another corner, and it looked just like the last street we were on; abandoned and dead.

Murucho sighed and said, "I don't think we're going to find this place." I hated to admit it, but I agreed with him. _And when we were so close._ We turned onto another street, and the headlights of the limo lit up the sidewalk and showed up something laying motionless. I blurted out, "It's Shun!"

Kato heard me yell, and pulled the limo to a halt. All of us jumped out and ran to his side. Blood was pooled around him, and he was cold to the touch. I asked, "Where's he hurt at?" Dan carefully rolled him over, and I could see the hole in his shirt. Murucho said, "He's been shot.

Runo, hand me your phone. Mine's dead." Runo nodded her head and handed over her phone to Murucho. I turned my attention back to Shun. He was pale in the face, and completely out. How long had he been there? Murucho walked back over to us and handed Runo back her phone. He said, "The ambulance is going to get here as soon as they can." _Hang on a little bit longer._

_Shun_

My eyes slowly opened up, and a light above blinded me. When my vision came back in focus, I saw it was a florescent ceiling light. My body ached all over, and my eyes struggled to stay open. Where was I? I looked around. It was a hospital room. I heard somebody to my right say, "Shun?"

I turned my head and saw Alice sitting upright on a couch while Dan and the others were sleeping behind her. She shook Dan awake, and he did the same to the others. They were all awake now, and standing over me. I asked them weakly, "What happened?" Murucho ran out of the room.

Most likely to get a nurse and let them know I was awake. Alice told me, "We found you on the sidewalk unconscious. You had been shot twice." I looked at her for a moment. "Twice?" I remembered the bullet wound in my side, but where else had I been hurt?

She nodded and said, "Yeah, once in your side and once in your leg. But the doctor said that the one in your leg was very minor." It must have been, because it sure didn't bother me any. Or maybe the other wound hurt more than my leg did. I lifted my hand to push my hair back, but something was keeping it from moving.

I looked down, and saw I was handcuffed to the bedrail. "What the hell?" Dan ran a hand through his hair and said, "The police found out pretty quickly that you were here, and did that." Julie nodded slowly and said, "They said something about that once you healed up enough that you were going with them."

My eyes fell back on the handcuffs. I told them, "But I know who hurt Alice! I have their names and can give them their faces." Alice looked at the floor in front of her and said, "They have a lot more piled on you than just that."

Runo nodded her head and added in, "It doesn't matter to them if you didn't hurt Alice or not. They have all kinds of charges from years ago on you." I laid my head back into my pillow and let out an exhausted sigh. Dan asked me, "Why didn't you ever tell us you were in a gang?"

I figured that they knew because of the police. Of course the cops would tell them everything in hopes that my friends would turn on me. But they didn't know anything about my past. I told them, "I didn't want you guys to get involved or hurt." Murucho walked back in with a nurse, and several officers behind him.

One of them, was Officer Allan. _Here we go._ He smiled down at me one of those superior smiles that told me that he had won. "Well, look what we have here. You gave us quite the little run for our money." I didn't say anything to him, and kept a steady glare back at him.

He stood over me and said, "Once you get out of here, you're going straight to the station so we can see what charges are on you. So, any words?" I said flatly, "Yeah. Two actually. Tic. Tacs." Officer Allan stepped back and glared down at me. The others were trying not to laugh.

He growled and said, "Make jokes while you can." I saw him check his breath when he walked out of the room. Murucho looked at me and said, "I'm sorry Shun. I tried my best to get him to back off, but it didn't work. He's persistent on getting you in jail." I sighed. It seemed like they had won.

After all of that running and searching for the answer that would clear my name, I was still going to be thrown in jail. Alice then asked the others, "Can I talk with Shun for a moment?" They nodded and walked out of the room. I told her, "I'm sorry." Before I knew it, I felt her lips on mine.

When she pulled away, I blinked several times and looked at her. She smiled and said, "Thank you. For putting yourself through so much to help me." I saw that tears were starting to form in her eyes, and if I wasn't handcuffed to the bed I would have wiped them away.

I told her, "If only thanks alone could get me out of the spot I'm in now." She gave me a sad smile. We both knew what was going to happen to me. And even Murucho couldn't stop it. Alice then said, "I wonder what's going to happen to that other guy." I looked at her and asked, "What other guy?" Alice looked at the door and said, "We found the warehouse that your gang stays at, and found some guy beaten and covered in blood."

I stopped and looked at her and asked, "He have kind of brown hair like Dan's?" She nodded her head. _Crap._ I sat up and asked, "What room is he in?" Alice placed her hand on my shoulder and made me lay back down. "Shun, lay back down. I think he's somewhere on this floor. But even if he is, do you think that those officers are going to uncuff you from the bed?"

She had a point. Buy I had to see how badly Ceram had hurt Ron. Yeah, I was still pissed at him in a sense, but he didn't deserve to be beaten like a dog. Dan popped his head back in the room and asked, "Can we come back in?" Alice and I looked at each other, and I said, "Yeah."

They came back in and sat down on the couch, but only Alice stayed standing. Maybe because Dan had taken her place when earlier he was on the armrest. He leaned forward and said, "So Shun, what was it like being in those gangs?"

I glared at him and said flatly, "I'd rather not talk about it now." Dan shrugged his shoulders and said, "Fine. But you're going to have to spill it to us one day. We are still your friends, remember?" I smiled and nodded my head. "I know."

* * *

><p>beh. -.- i have to take care of my dad today since he's back is out. joy. -.- well, i think that's about it. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	15. I Can Taste Freedom

_Alice_

While all of us had time from the watchful eyes of the police, Shun had started to explain things to us. Like why he was in the gangs in the first place, and some of the things he had done. I was sure that he had done more, but didn't want to tell us. I didn't think I wanted to hear it either.

The others seemed a little annoyed, but probably only cause Shun never told them the truth and kept everything from them. I wasn't mad at him or anything. He just didn't want us to get hurt or involved. In my opinion, he hadn't done nothing major that would land him in jail. That only added onto my suspicions that Officer Allan was more twisted than I had thought. I noticed that Shun kept looking down at the handcuff that was attached to the bedrail.

He let out a tired sigh. He had spent so much time and energy trying to keep from being in this position, and he still ended up in it. The open door revealed the nurses and doctors walking back and forth in the hall. I recognized several of the nurses from my stay in this same hospital.

I found it rather ironic that I just got out of this place, and I was right back in it again. At least I wasn't the one in the bed this time. Instead, it was Shun. Standing next to him reminded me of when he came into my room before I had gone into my coma. I remembered how sorry he had been, and how he was crying.

_He can't go to jail._ My legs started to tire from standing, and I couldn't sit down on the couch since Dan had stolen my place. I side and sat down on the edge of Shun's hospital bed. He seemed oblivious to me, and was still focused on the handcuffs. I had never seen him so lost in thought.

Seeing him like this, made me realize how high the stakes were for him. And not only him, but me as well. If things didn't get straightened out, then Shun could be the one being wrongfully accused while the real bad guys were still running around on the streets and causing trouble to others.

A nurse came in, and changed Shun's IV line without saying anything. Julie huffed, "That was rude." I nodded my head in agreement. Although, if I had to deal with sickly people all day, I might have been in a bad mood as well. A low growl came from the couch, and everyone was staring at Dan's stomach.

The noise even brought Shun out of his thoughts. Dan laughed nervously and said, "I didn't have anything to eat this morning." Murucho pushed up his glasses and said smartly, "None of us have, Dan. We were all too busy wondering when Shun would wake up."

It was true. We had spent all the night in the waiting room while Shun had been in surgery, and stayed in the room after that. Only around noon did Shun wake up, and even then most of us were still asleep since we were exhausted from the stress of the night before.

I was still tired myself, and wished that I could be curled up in a warm and soft bed. Shun made a noise behind me, and I turned around and saw his eyes were shut. My eyes then went up to the IV drip of painkillers, and saw that they were empty. The nurse had only changed the fluids, not the painkillers.

Murucho saw it as well, and said, "I'll go get a nurse." We all nodded our heads and watched the short blonde leave the room. We all knew that it would be immensely painful for Shun when the last bit of those painkillers wear off. The same nurse walked in the room and changed the smaller bag that contained the medicine. I looked back down at Shun, and saw that he looked more at ease now.

Dan stood up from the couch and said, "We're going on downstairs to get something to eat. You gunna come with us, Alice?" I shook my head and told him, "I'm not all that hungry, but you could bring me something back up. Like a sandwich or something like that."

Dan nodded his head and left out of the room. The others followed suit and it was just me and Shun in the room again. His eyes opened back up, and he growled. I asked him, "What's wrong?" He repositioned himself and said in an aggravated tone, "It's impossible to find a comfortable place on this thing. How did you manage on one of these?"

I gave him a look and said, "Well, one; I wasn't awake for most of it." Shun looked at me and said, "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Sorry." I smiled at him and said, "It's alright." I moved from the edge of the bed and sat back down on the couch. I suddenly asked Shun, "Were you scared?"

I didn't know why I blurted that out, but I had. And it was too late to take it back. Shun looked at me with a confused look and asked, "Scared of what?" He was sitting upright now, and the blankets had fallen to his lap and revealed the bandages around his abdomen.

I said while still looking at the white cloths, "Of everything. Being caught, hurt, or shot." His eyes went back down to the handcuffs. "Yeah. Every minute." He had every right to be scared. Any second could have turned uglier than the last. He then said, "I'm still scared. Of what will happen now."

I was also afraid. Shun hadn't done anything wrong. Recently that I knew of. But the police couldn't arrest him for something minor he had done many years back, could they? Shun was holding his side. It must have still been bothering him, even with the painkillers that he had been given. I thought back to how pale and weak he looked when we found him on the sidewalk, laying in a pool of his own blood.

Now, he looked a million times better; he was no longer pale as he been, and he had regained much of his strength. "I don't want to go to jail, Alice. I don't belong there." I leaned forward and placed my hand on top of his. "None of us want to see you get locked up, Shun. Don't worry.

We'll figure something out." Shun looked at me and smiled. I could see that he appreciated my support now during this difficult time for everyone. The door then opened, and Dan and the others came walking back in. Julie and Murucho were holding Styrofoam to-go boxes from the cafeteria, and I could already smell what was in them.

Dan was holding a small plastic bag, and tossed it to me. He said, "Hope ya like ham and cheese, cause that's all they had." I smiled and thanked him. Even though I wasn't the biggest fan of ham and cheese, I'd still eat the sandwich. I was hungry after all.

Dan plopped down on the couch and looked at me and Shun. "So, what did you guys talk about while we were gone." I applauded Dan's attempt to try and put everyone into a better mood, and not one where we were all doom and gloom. Shun and I exchanged a look at each other. I said, "Nothing much." Footsteps then sounded into the room, and Officer Allan and the two officers under him walked in.

_Alice_

I could see Shun tense up at the sight of the officers. They had given him heck since day one. Officer Allan asked flatly, "Are we ready to try this again?" Shun narrowed his eyes at the officer and said harshly, "Try and get you to leave us alone? In that case, yes."

The officers behind Officer Allan looked at each other. They probably hadn't seen somebody like Shun before, and didn't really know how to react. Officer Allan on the other hand, just stood there without so much as a frown. His mouth was set in a fine line, and his eyes were unreadable.

The perfect poker face. This seemed to deter Shun when he realized that the officer wasn't about to back down this time. Julie stood up from the couch and said, "Ok guys, we better get out of here." She was about to walk out, when Officer Allan held up his hand and said sternly, "Sit back down."

Julie gulped and did as he said. The officer was looking at a small painting on the wall of the room when he said, "Don't worry. We're not here to drag you off to the station….Yet…..We're just here to try and get a few more answers for when we do take you in."

Shun shot back at him with, "Why are my friends being forced to stay in here then if it's only concerning me and you?" Officer Allan turned back around with his hands folded behind his back. "I just want some witnesses to what's said. You can never have too many ears and eyes when it comes to interrogation." I heard Shun growl and say something under his breath like, _"Pompous ass."_

Dan must have heard him, because he let out a short laugh and stopped when Officer Allan cut him a cross look. Dan slid down into the couch, as if trying to vanish and evade the stares of the officers. Officer Allan held out his hand, and one of the other officers handed him a yellow notepad and pen.

He said, "Just going to scribble down what you answer with." Shun glared at him and said, "How will I know if you don't switch my words around. It's not like it would be below you to do something like that." I hadn't ever seen a side this defiant in Shun. It certainly was something new to me. Officer Allan raised his hand and said, "Officer's honor."

Shun let out a short laugh like Dan had done. "As if you've ever had any." Officer Allan ignored Shun again and asked him some illegitimate question when somebody else walked into the room. He was in a police uniform, but it was much more formal than any of the officers'.

One of Officer Allan's teammates stuttered out, "Ch-Chief Tanner. What a surprise." This guy was the Chief. I had seen him on the news before. He looked around the room, and looked seriously pissed. His eyes fell on both Shun and I. He asked, "I take it you're Alice Gehabich and Shun Kazami?"

We both nodded our heads slowly. Was he there to interrogate us as well? I turned and saw the three officers looked nervous. One of the younger ones even looked as if he were about to run out of the room. They wouldn't be nervous like this if Chief Tanner were there to help put Shun in jail.

Chief Tanner shot his gaze over to Officer Allan and asked sternly, "Why is it that this case and investigation is just now getting to my desk for approval?" Murucho raised an eyebrow and said, "You mean none of this has been approved by the city yet?" Chief Tanner nodded his head.

I thought for a moment before saying, "That would mean that they had no right to question any of us." Again, another nod from him. Anger bubbled up in me. In fact, it was rising up in all of us. For over a week all of us had been through hell with these police harping on us and chasing down Shun. The young officer who looked like he was about to pee himself, blurted out, "He made us push the case back!"

Officer Allan shot a look at the young officer. The Chief raised an eyebrow and said, "Elaborate for me, Officer Boesky." Officer Allan looked like he wanted to slap the fool out of the officer who had snitched on him. Chief Tanner raised a hand and stopped the young officer from speaking. "You know what, this can wait till we get back to the station. I suggest the three of you get back there. Now."

The three officers nodded their heads and filed out of the room. I heard Officer Allan swearing at the one who ratted them out. All of this time, they had put us through this heck without any justification.

Chief Tanner turned back to us and said, "I'm sorry about this. I reviewed over the case and investigation request, and nearly fired my intern for messing this up. When I found him, he had told me that Officer Boesky was told supposedly by me, that I wanted this file moved to the back of the list. It had just gotten to my desk this morning, and then I got word that Officer Allan was running a case with many similarities to this one. That's when I found out where they were at, and showed up here."

Murucho broke the silence by asking, "So, what happens now?" Chief Tanner looked us over before saying, "There will still be a couple of interviews so I can be caught up on everything that's happened, but I think most likely after that's over with nobody is going to jail." Shun was leaning forward now and asked, "I'm not going to jail?"

Chief Tanner's lip curved up and said, "I doubt very seriously any of you are." Shun let out a small sigh of relief and told the Chief, "I know who hurt her, and how they're involved with. If that helps any." The Chief rubbed his chin and said, "That sounds like a very big help. You can tell us when you're well enough to leave. In the mean time."

The Chief dug into his pocket and tossed a set of keys to Shun. "I think being handcuffed to there is a bit overkill, don't you?" Shun smiled and didn't hesitate to get those handcuffs off in his wrists.

He tossed the keys and cuffs back to the Chief and said, "Thank you." The Chief nodded his head and walked out of the room. Dan and the others were talking about what just happened when Shun asked me, "In what room is that guy who got beat up?"

* * *

><p>sorry for being late. my bro showed up and i got caught up with talking with him. now i'm lady gaga-ing it up. o.o lol. gotta love her. ^^ well, i think that's all for the night. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	16. Don't Stray Too Far

_Shun_

After arguing with the nurses and doctors, I was finally allowed to leave my room. Alice and the others knew where Ron's room was, and they walked with me to it. We stepped inside. The room was just like every other room in the hospital; boring white walls, small spaces, and the smell of medicine and illness.

Dan and Alice were by my sides in case my injured leg gave out from having weight being placed on it. I didn't think I'd need them though since I felt pretty sturdy on my feet. I limped towards the bed that Ron was laying in, and saw the extent of what Ceram had done.

It was tons worse than what happened to Alice. What had been cuts on her, were gashes on him. I was pretty sure Ron's entire body was nothing more than a giant bruise and broken bones. "Ron? Can you hear us?" His eyes still stayed closed. Seeing my old friend like this only made me want Ceram to suffer in some way or form. All of the hate that I had from when Ron didn't tell me what he knew, went away as easily as it came.

I then remembered what hospital I was at. It was the same one that Ron's sister was in. _She has every right to know about him._ I couldn't remember what room or floor Ron had told me she was on. I'd have to ask somebody that worked in the hospital who might know.

I knew that Allison wouldn't take seeing her brother like this very well, and when we finally told her that he was in a gang. Well, things might not go over well. But she'd need an explanation to where her brother couldn't even open his eyes, and it was about time she learned the truth about how he had been able to pay for her treatments.

I wondered if her view of him would change. She always thought so highly of him. For all I knew, his sister might take the news very well like Dan and the others had. They now knew about my past, and as far as I could tell they didn't think of me any more or less. I was still their friend in the end.

I sighed. Ron wasn't about to wake up just yet. He was still too new to his injuries to start recovering. Just like Alice had been. It had taken a coma for her to even start healing. But if she had pulled out of this, then I was sure that Ron would as well. He had taken more of Ceram's crap than any of us, and that had made him stronger than you'd think.

Right then, I wanted to hurry up and get out of this hospital and go and tell the police Chief everything and make sure that Eric, Colt, and Ceram were taken care of. The rest of the gang would probably disband, or put up a new leader.

If they broke apart, then they'd most likely join another gang or use the opportunity to leave and start their lives over like I had. But if they chose a new leader, then things wouldn't even change. They would still do night runs, still hurt people, still rob stores and homes, and still torment the members in the gang. It's always like that in every gang. No matter what city, state, country, and so on.

They are all built on the same foundation. I just wished that they would hurry up and see the errors in their ways like I had, and get out while they still had a chance before something bad happened that they couldn't recover from. I sighed again and said, "Let's go." While we walked back to my hospital room, I could help but keep thinking that Ron had gotten the short end of the stick in all of this while I had come out of it in better shape than him.

And he did something a lot more minor than I had. That just proved Ceram's twisted and sick sense of the world and punishment. I stopped by the nurses desk and asked them if they knew what room that Ron's sister was in. The nurse typed on her computer and said, "Allison Renwick? She's on the floor above us. Why?"

I used the counter part of the nurse's station to take weight from my leg. I told them, "She's Ron Renwick's little sister. Could you maybe bring her to his room when he wakes up since she doesn't know what happened to him?" The nurse smiled and said, "I'll make a note to remind me."

I thanked her and started back towards my room with the others next to me. She asked me, "Ron's littler sister is Allison?" I raised an eyebrow and nodded my head. "Yeah. Why?" She moved out of the way of a doctor and said, "I met her the day that I finally got out of the hospital. She was down in the courtyard and I talked with her for a little while."

I was surprised that Alice had actually met Ron's sister, but the world is only so big. Alice added in, "She seems like a nice person." I nodded my head in agreement. I had met Allison a few times before when Ron had asked if I wanted to go and visit her with him. I had to admit, she was a fighter.

I hadn't ever known how she could be so optimistic on life when she was so close to losing it. I glanced over at Alice. Then again, I had been fighting when everything I had was close to being taken away. I kind of understood Allison's perspective now that I had been through something like that.

_Alice_

That Ron guy was in worse shape than I remembered, but what really had taken me back was that Allison was his sister. Yeah, when we first found Ron beaten in the warehouse, I thought he kind of looked like her. But I had thought that was from it being dark and things like that.

Now I knew what her brother did for money now, and even though I didn't really like the idea of joining a bunch of criminals for money, I could see where he was coming from. Ron loved his sister enough to put himself at risk for her to keep her life. That was truly a loving family bond they had.

All of us had gone back to Shun's room after seeing Ron, who had still been asleep. We had sat there another hour or so and just talked about irrelevant things. Nobody brought up the events that happened from the day that I was attacked to when Shun woke up. Probably because nobody wanted to re-live those events.

I know I sure didn't want to. And quite obviously Shun wasn't about to either. Night had fallen outside of the hospital, and the open curtains revealed the city's lights had all been turned on. This city at night was one of my favorite things, especially when the lights reflected on the water that surrounded party of it.

Bay City didn't get its name for nothing. Dan yawned and said, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting tired." Murucho straightened his shirt that had wrinkled and said, "I think it's about time to go anyway." The hospital didn't have visiting hours. At least, I didn't think so.

But I knew what they meant. They had spent a lot of time at this hospital, and wanted to get away from it as soon as they humanly could. I didn't want to go, because I felt like if I left then something might happen to Shun again. You'd think out of everyone, that I'd be the one who wanted to leave the most since I had been a welcomed guest at the hospital, but I wasn't.

I said, "If it's alright with you guys, I'm going to stay here." Runo raised an eyebrow and said, "The night?" I nodded my head. Murucho then chimed in and said, "Are you sure, Alice? If you stay here then you won't be able to come back to my place until the morning." I shrugged and told him, "I don't mind that. I know the hospital has some rooms for overnight guests. I could use one of them."

The others were exchanging looks at each other. Shun wasn't aware of the conversation going on since a nurse had brought in some medicine that had knocked him out cold. Runo bit her lip and said, "Alright, but don't go outside of the hospital. Those creeps are still running around on those streets."

I rolled my eyes and said, "I know." Dan yawned again and said, "If you wanna stay here, then that's cool with me. We'll see ya in the morning." I nodded my head and watched them leave the room. I then grabbed the sandwich that Dan had bought me from the cafeteria, and unwrapped the plastic cling wrap that was surrounding it.

It might have been a good thing that I saved it from lunch, because I did believe that the cafeteria was closed for the night. I ate my way through the plain ham and cheese sandwich, and every bite I wished that I had something to go with it. I then balled up the cling wrap and got up to toss it away in the trash can.

When I walked back over to the couch, Shun started to wake up. He lifted up his head and looked around the room. "Where'd the others go?" I sat back down on the couch and said, "They went back to Murucho's." He nodded his head for a moment, then stopped. "Why are you still here then?"

I decided to mess with him. "I thought you'd be happy to have me here." Shun's eyes widened and he quickly blurted out, "That wasn't what I meant! I'm happy you're here. Honest." I laughed and told him, "I'm just messing with you. I just didn't want to go back with the others."

A blush crossed Shun's face, and he tried to hide it. I had always loved how gullible Shun could be at times. He could fall into a joke so easily. Laughter from the nurses down at their station drifted through the door of Shun's room, and we were both able to hear them loud and clear.

Shun said, "I wonder what they're talking about." I shrugged my shoulders, and let out a shiver. Shun looked at me and asked, "You cold?" I smiled and nodded my head. "A little. This hospital is always chilly." He sat up and took one of the blankets off of him and handed it out to me.

"Here. They have enough covers on me to make me have a heatstroke." I laughed and thanked him as I took the blanket. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep me at a comfortable temperature. It was still warm from Shun's body heat. A yawn escaped me. I hadn't even noticed how tired I had been.

The past two or three days had been sheer heck and stress filled. Now it was finally all coming down on me. I let out another yawn, and laid down on the couch. Shun asked me, "You going to sleep now?" I nodded my head, and closed my eyes. But I couldn't get comfortable.

I tossed and turned, and only ended up getting myself twisted up in the blanket that Shun had given me. I growled and opened my eyes to find Shun looking at me with one of his eyebrows raised. "Having issues getting comfortable?" I untwisted the blanket from my legs and said, "Is it that obvious?"

He smiled and me and moved over in his bed. "Come on." I looked at him for a moment. It was either fight trying to sleep on the couch, or next to Shun. I got up and squeezed into the space he had made next to him. There was just enough room for the two of us.

I had to admit, it was a step above that couch. Immediately, I started to grow sleepy again and laid my head on Shun's shoulder and closed my eyes. I told him, "Thanks." I could feel him smiling at me. He said, "No problem." Shun then moved the blanket he was under, and draped it over me as well. I could already feel myself slipping into a state of sleep.

I then felt Shun place a kiss on the top of my head and heard him say, "Thanks for staying here." I was too tired to say anything back to him, but smiled instead. Finally, I slipped into a much needed rest.

* * *

><p>sorry for being late again. got sidetracked once more. o.o i'm bout to freeze to death. -shivers- but i'm jamming to DragonForce, so i'm pretty good now...wiggle wiggle wiggle YEAH! XD lol. yes. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	17. Don't Charge Me For The Crime

_Shun_

I was finally released from the hospital after being trapped there for a little over week. About the same amount of time as Alice had spent. I hadn't brought anything with me since I was found shot and on the sidewalk, so Murucho had brought me a change of my clothes.

Happily, I had gone into the bathroom and changed into them so I could finally get out of the scrub pants that the hospital had given to me. At least it wasn't one of those inconvenient hospital gowns. Before walking out of the hospital, I told the others that I wanted to check in on Ron once more. Murucho had been the one to tell me that he had woken up a day or so ago. I hadn't spoken to him yet.

Well, conscious at least. Ron had been beaten by Ceram, and that added him to the list of unfortunate victims; which right now had been me and Alice. I walked down the hall and knocked twice on the door before stepping inside. He wasn't alone though. His little sister Allison was in her wheelchair by his bed.

I wondered if he had told his sister the story to why he was in that bed. Allison smiled at me and said, "Shun! I haven't seen you in forever." I smiled back and walked in. Leaving the door open since I didn't plan to be there for very long.

Ron asked me, "How are you? Some short blonde came in here the other day and said that you had been shot. I thought he might have escaped the psych ward in this place, but then he started telling me about what happened to you." I sat down on the couch that was the same in every room. "I'm fine, but what about you? Ceram nearly beat you to death from what I've heard."

Ron had a sad smile on his face. "Yeah. Turns out he sent Zach after us the day we went to find Hilton, and he and Ceram had everything set up from then. Before he went after you, he decided to make me pay for lying to him and for telling you about that girl." I nodded my head. I figured that much. Things went to planned for it to be coincidence. And it certainly wasn't sheer luck.

I glanced at Allison and said, "Have you told her yet?" His little sister nodded her head, but still wore her sweet smile. "He told me when I first came down here. I don't care if he was in a gang. I'm just happy that he's alright now." I couldn't help but smile myself. Allison was definitely wise beyond her years. That probably came from having to grow up quickly and face the dark side of life.

It was just good to hear that Ron wasn't keeping the truth from her any longer. I asked him, "What are you going to do about her treatments now though? You're not planning on going back into the gangs again, are you?" Ron shook his head. "No. I'm definitely not doing that again.

She doesn't have much more medicine to receive. I'm sure I can find an ok job and make the last few payments on my own like I should have been doing from the start." Murucho stood in the doorway and told me, "We're ready whenever you are, Shun." I nodded my head, and he walked off back down the hall. Ron said, "That was that blonde that I was talking about."

I laughed and said, "That's Murucho. You've probably heard of his parents. The Marakura's?" Ron's eyes widened. "Seriously? They're like, the richest people in the city. Or country for that." I smiled and said, "Yup. That's Murucho for ya." Ron then asked me, "So, are the cops still dogging after you." A proud smile came across my face and I said, "Not anymore. In fact, I'm going to the station tomorrow and telling them that Colt, Eric, and Ceram were behind this whole charade."

Ron laughed and told me, "And all it took was a bullet, huh?" I rolled my eyes, but was smiling. "Actually, it just took a few corrupt officers screwing up." I glanced up at the wall clock. I had stayed in the room longer than I intended to.

I stood from the couch and said, "Well, I have to get going. My friends are probably starting to get annoyed that I'm taking forever." Ron nodded and told me, "Well, good luck with the police station thing. Better make sure that they bring them in, or else I'll have to take care of it personally."

I laughed. "Don't worry. They aren't going to be on the streets much longer. They'll have themselves a nice cold cell to sleep in now." I said my good-byes to Ron and Allison, and walked down the stairs and through the sliding doors of the hospital.

Only to find Dan and the others waiting for me outside of Murucho's limo. Dan had his arms folded over his chest when he said, "It's about time." I gave him a look and we both laughed. I said, "Sorry for the wait." We all the piled into the limo, and Murucho told Kato to head back to his mansion.

_Shun_

There wasn't much of a homecoming when we got back to Murucho's, but I didn't care. I was just happy that everything was going back to normal finally. Or halfway normal. None of us still knew how everything would turn out yet. Would my story set right with the Chief?

Or would things still get turned on me? It all depended on how my story went over with the police when they questioned us all one last time. Things that night though….Were actually normal. You wouldn't think that Alice had been jumped, the others questioned, or me shot and had just gotten out of the hospital. It was strange to me. I had started getting used to the way things were for me in the gang, and now that I was back in the life that I had wanted back felt strange.

_At least I got all of this over with before I was sucked back in._ Everyone had started to grow tired, and I knew that it was time for us to turn in. Tomorrow was going to be a long and strenuous day for all of us. Especially me. Goodnights were said, and I started back towards my old room that I usually had while at Murucho's.

The door was still busted from when the police broke in to try and arrest me the night that I ran off. Murucho then popped out of nowhere and told me, "Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you that you might want to bunk in another one of the guest rooms. If you want some privacy at least."

Privacy was a big issue for me, and the others knew that. It would give me the chance to meditate, and it also kept Dan out of my room and stopped him from annoying the ever-loving crap out of me. And it benefited him as well. And by benefited I mean, it kept me from giving him a black eye. On more than one occasion too. I nodded my head and walked down the hall and found another empty guest room.

Which wasn't difficult since almost all of Murucho's house was nothing but guest rooms. I walked in it, and laid on my back on the bed. I let out a heavy sigh now that I was alone. For the first time in weeks, I felt safe again. No threat of police taking me away lingered, and no worry of my old life coming back to get me either.

_I might actually get a good night's sleep this time._ Not that I hadn't slept well in the hospital, but it was the bed's issue. I wasn't used to them. But I did sleep well that night that Alice stayed over at the hospital and slept next to me. I smiled and closed my eyes.

What would the days after this hold for me now? What would they hold for me and Alice? Now that one chapter was coming to an end, so many new pages were left unread that would answer my questions. But I'd have to finish this page to find out the rest.

_Shun_

The day that for the longest time I feared, was now upon me. But this time, I was looking forward to it. Only because the stipulations were different now. The threat and chances that I'd go to jail were almost nonexistent, unlike how they had been a few weeks ago.

I slipped into a change of clothes and walked downstairs. The others were already dressed and ready to go. Maybe none of them had slept last night due to anticipation from finally putting an end to all of this. I didn't have that problem since I slept like a log.

I had never felt more rested before. Not even when I had taken cold medicine and it had knocked me out. The sleep I got last night was the best I had in what seemed like forever. Murucho asked us, "Are you all ready to get this over with?" We all nodded our heads. None was more ready than me.

Well, Alice may have been a close second too. We all got back into the limo and Kato drove through the streets and pulled up to the police station. He turned around and told us, "We're here." All of us climbed out of the limo, and since I was the last one out I did the honors of shutting the vehicle's door. Kato rolled down the window and said, "I'll be right here when you all get out."

We nodded our heads and walked up the concrete steps and into the police station. Phones were ringing nonstop, and one part of the station was filled with people who were handcuffed and sitting in chairs. Most seemed to be either drunk or crying their eyes out.

They had to be the people who had minor charges against them. Not like anything that Ceram had done. I was sure they had a special place for him. A female officer behind the counter looked up and saw us. She immediately recognized who we were, and picked up a phone. She said into it, "Chief Tanner, please report to the main lobby."

The officer put the phone back on the receiver and didn't make eye contact with us again. Chief Tanner came walking out from somewhere in the back and smiled at us. "Right on time. Follow Officer Moss to the questioning room." He stepped to the side and revealed to us a small female officer.

Much smaller than the one behind the desk who had called in the Chief. Her brunette hair was tied tightly in a bun. Overall, you wouldn't think that she was an officer of the law, but she might have more fight than anyone would think. We followed the small officer to a room all the way in the back of the station.

I saw the two-way mirror that allowed somebody to see inside the room from the outside, but not outside of the room for the inside. Officer Moss turned around and told us, "Ok. I know that all of you have probably had enough questions, but this is the last time. We promise."

We nodded our heads and continued to talk. "We're going to ask that you all go in the room one at a time, and wait in separate rooms from each other." We didn't protest. This was the final leg of everything we've been through, and we weren't about to prolong the end any longer. The officer stopped at a room occasionally, and told one of us to go in it. She did this for everyone, and I was the last to receive a room.

She said, "We'll come for you when it's your time to be questioned." I nodded my head and she shut the door. All that was in the room was a couch, coffee table, and some magazines to pass the time. They were the generic type that you'd normally see in hospital waiting rooms.

You know the kind; six year old health and automobile magazines that were wrinkled to high-heaven. The front cover was torn off of one of them, and I couldn't tell what kind of magazine it was. Probably a health magazine. There always seemed to be more of them than any other kind.

Without a clock in the room, I had no clue how long I had been in that little room. It felt like hours to me, and I wanted nothing more than to go outside and get some air. Right when I was about to start screaming, the door opened and the small officer poked her head inside. "You're up now."

I didn't hesitate to get out of that room, and I followed out behind her and back to the one-way mirrored room. I wondered if anyone was going to be watching from the outside. She opened the door and I stepped in. Chief Tanner was sitting down in a chair at a gray table.

Two cups of water were placed on the table, along with a recorder for our conversation. Officer Moss closed the door to the room, and now it was just me and Chief Tanner. A thick suspense hung in the air for a moment until he finally spoke. "You've been the center of this for some time…Haven't you?"

I nodded my head but didn't say anything just yet. It wasn't my time to speak. He had probably said something like this to all of the others so far. "Do you mind starting from the beginning for me?" Now it was my time to talk. I thought carefully for a moment about how to word this.

I then started to spill the story to him. From everything from Alice being attacked to when I woke up in the hospital. He wrote down words occasionally on a small notepad. Probably in case something went wrong with the recorder. He put his pen down and looked at me with stone set eyes.

I had told him everything. Even things that were probably not relevant to this. He said, "We'll run the names you gave us in our computers and see if we can find any past info on them." He then flipped pages in the notepad. He hadn't written anything on them when I was being questioned.

I glanced over at it, and saw that my name was mentioned several times. He said, "These are all of your charges that you have." He twirled it around and pushed it across the table for me to look at. Dates and everything were written down in black pen. I gulped. It didn't matter if they were minor. There were enough scribbled down that could possibly send me to jail. I glanced down the list.

Robbery was the main one in the list. The others were things from when I had been around the gang during shootings and fights. The occasional possession of an illegal substance popped up too. It was amazing how much they had on me. But none of them were lies or made up in order to be able to put me in jail.

I had done all of this, and I hated myself for it. The one my eyes fell on the most though was being near a murder scene. That was when I finally had enough and saw that I had to get away from the gangs as soon as possible. The most recent was assault. But it wasn't for Alice. It was apparently for Zach.

I hadn't even thought about him since I had run out of Donovan's with Ceram at my heels with guns firing. I had hit him upside the head with a bottle, and last I remembered was that he was unconscious. Odds were they found my fingerprints on the bottle, and that was how they tied it to me.

It didn't matter if a gang member hurt another gang member. It was still considered assault nonetheless. Chief Tanner told me, "You have a good amount of charges pressed against you. Enough that you might be looking at some time in jail." I stared down at the notepad and said, "I know."

Chief Tanner took the notepad back, but I still stared down at the place it was. As if I could still see it there. All of my past that I was ashamed of. Right there in black and white. The Chief said, "Listen, I believe what you've told me, and I don't want to send you to jail for this." He held up the notepad and continued to talk.

"But it's not like we can just let it slide by without a glance. There has to be some kind of reparations for them." I nodded my head. It could only be a matter of time before they caught up with me. I asked, "So what will happen now?" Chief Tanner sighed and folded the notepad closed and turned the recorder off.

"Well, first we're going to search for the three names you gave us, and then we'll worry about your charges." I nodded my head and asked, "So, who's coming in here next?" Chief Tanner stood up and said, "Nobody. You were the last of your friends." I should have known that they'd save me for last.

I stood up as well, and pushed my chair under the gray table. Chief Tanner said you're more than welcome to meet your friends out front and go back home for the time being." I nodded my head and thanked him for his time. He did the same to me. Now it was all a waiting game again.

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><p><em>chapter title based off the Jonas Brothers song Don't Charge Me For The Crime.<em> I'M BACK! ^^ lol. i didn't die for those of you who thought i did. i was just busy yesterday (lots of homework that was due today) well, that's it i think. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	18. End Of The Line

_Alice_

All of us had gone pretty much straight to our rooms when we got back to Murucho's after seemingly endless hours of questions being asked. From what I knew, Shun was the last to be interrogated, and that was it. None of us really spoke about what the police Chief asked us.

Although some of us dropped little hinted questions, but we were all too tired to catch them. I noticed that Shun was awfully quiet on the ride back in the limo. Had his questioning gone wrong? I knew Shun wouldn't want to talk about it in front of everyone, but he might tell me if it were just the two of us. He knew that I wouldn't betray any of his secrets if he didn't want me to. I chased after him when we got back.

The others didn't seem to notice as they headed back to their rooms for some rest from this stressful day. "Shun! Wait up!" He turned around, and I could see that he wasn't expecting for me to be running up behind him. "Alice?" I stopped a few feet short from him. I told him, "I noticed that you were quieter than usual on the ride back. Did everything go well during your questioning?"

Shun had been in the middle of this mess, and everything had been circling around him. When he didn't say anything, I went ahead and told him, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want or if you can't." I started to think that maybe Chief Tanner told him not to tell us about what was said between them.

Shun stuck his hands in his pockets. He really looked like he didn't want to talk about it, but at the same time he did. Which only added to my assumption that Chief Tanner told him to stay quiet.

I said, "You don't have to, Shun." He looked up at me and said, "I know, but I want to. I'm just worried about you or the others would think if I did." I took a step closer to him and said, "If you want to tell me then you can. I won't tell the others either. You know you can trust me, Shun."

He nodded his head and then leaned against the wall of the hallway that we were standing in. Shun then looked around to make sure that nobody like Dan or one of the others were walking by the hall going to one of their rooms. He sighed and said, "They might still send me to jail. Turns out that I had more charges against me than I thought."

I stared at him as if he were speaking another language. There was no way that they could do that to Shun. He was innocent in all of this. I then remembered about his past, and reminded myself of some of the things that he had done before the past few weeks. I asked him, "What are you going to do?"

He shrugged his shoulders and told me, "Wait and see. That's all I can do right now. If they decide to take me to jail, then I don't have much choice anymore. I'm tired of running from it. I just want to get it all over with." I placed my hand on his shoulder and told him, "Well, it's all almost over."

He smiled and said, "Thank goodness." I laughed and looked back up at his face. We then found ourselves leaning closer to each other, and I felt our lips meet. For so many years I wanted this to happen, and now it finally was. I found the reasons for it a little out of the ordinary; Shun running from the police and me being jumped by a gang, but I wasn't complaining anymore.

When we broke the kiss, Shun asked me, "When all of this is over….What about me and you?" I was taken aback for a moment as my brain tried to register what he was telling me so soon after our kiss. Like an idiot I asked, "Me and you?" Shun nodded his head and told me, "Yeah. If by some way that I don't get sent to jail, do you think there would be a chance for us?"

I felt my face warm up. Shun had done so much for me, and risked so much for me as well. I pushed myself up on my toes, and planted another kiss on his lips. I dropped back down to my feet, and saw that his eyes were still slightly wide with surprise. I smiled and said, "That answer your question?" He blinked a few times before smiling. I told him, "You really should smile more often." He chuckled and said, "I'll try for you."

_Shun_

Alice and I stood in the hall and talked for a while longer after our kiss. I glanced down at the clock on my phone. According to the time on it, night would have already fallen outside and signal another end of another day. I yawned, and felt the day finally catching up on me.

I said, "I'm going on to bed a little early." Alice nodded and said, "I think everyone else has already fallen asleep themselves." She was probably right. When we got back most of the others went on back to their rooms, and all looked drained from the suspense and stress of being under a serious interrogation.

I gave Alice another quick kiss and told her good-night, and she did the same to me. I probably shouldn't have started something with her just yet until I knew if I was truly going to jail or not, but I couldn't let this slip through my hands again.

I wasn't about to lose her again. I walked down to the new guest room that I was staying in since mine had a busted door from when the police tried to apprehend me. I wondered how much it would take for Murucho to repair the door.

Knowing him, it was probably some special and rare imported wood door from another country. When I finally got back to my new room, I laid right down on the bed and shut my eyes.

_Shun_

It was one of those groggy mornings for everyone. By the looks of things, some of the others most likely hadn't slept well last night. The only ones who looked well rested were me and Alice. _Hmm. I wonder why._ I smiled and sat down on the couch next to Alice.

We were all gathered in a sitting room that was in the main lobby of Murucho's mansion. Dan let out a yawn, and then stretched out on the couch, totally ignoring the fact that Runo was sitting next to him and now he had propped his legs up across her lap.

She stared at him for a minute before she narrowed her eyes at him, and then hit him in the stomach. Dan then shot up, and fell off of the couch and landed on the floor. Runo snapped at him, "I'm not your footrest, Dan!" I laughed along with the others at Dan's expense.

Kato then stood in the doorway and said, "Somebody is here to-" Before Kato could even finish speaking, Ron came barreling into the room. I stood up from the couch and looked at him. "Ron? What the hell are you doing out of the hospital?" There were still bandages on his arms, but that was about it. He said quickly, "They let me out this morning, but I have something to tell you guys!"

All eyes were on Ron, and even I thought he had surely gone mad somehow. He then continued. "Before I left I saw a news report. The police have already caught Colt, Eric, _and _Ceram!" I felt my own eyes widen, and I asked in a shocked tone, "Already? How did they find them so quickly?"

Ron couldn't stop smiling. This was as big for him as it was for me. Both of us had been unfortunate victims in the game called crime. "Turns out that they put up pictures on them on the news last night, and Ceram's own gang saw the report and turned them in! I guess we weren't the only ones fed up with his crap."

This was better than I could have ever thought. The people that Ceram thought were loyal to him, were just waiting for a chance to turn on him and hand him over to the police. All of us were standing now, and were listening to Ron finish telling us how Ceram, Colt, and Eric were already in custody and undergoing intense investigation.

Even though the proof was piled against them, they had to have a fair questioning. It wouldn't matter. They were as good as done, and going to straight to prison most likely. Ron then started to wobble on his feet, and Dan and I quickly caught him and walked him over to a couch.

I asked him, "Did you really get discharged from the hospital." He tried to do an innocent face when he said, "Not exactly. But I just had to tell you guys what happened." Murucho seemed to have thought of something and said, "How did you know where we were at?"

Ron rolled his eyes and said, "Duh. You're a Marakura. Everyone knows where you live." Murucho shrugged and said, "I didn't think about that." I shook my head and told Murucho, "Get Kato to get the limo ready so we can take Ron back to the hospital before he does something stupid."

Ron narrowed his eyes at me, and I smiled. Murucho nodded his head and ran off to find Kato. The loyal butler to the Marakura's showed up, and walked with Ron outside. Not long after they left out, Chief Tanner and several other officers walked in. "By the looks of you all, I'm guessing that you've heard what happened."

We all nodded our heads and smiled. I was just happy that they were finally off the streets, and I was very pleased with the way that they were turned in. Chief Tanner nodded his head and looked at me. "This just leaves you." I held a steady, dead-on gaze with him.

I wanted him to be able that I wasn't going to fight, but I was at least going to try my best to find another alternative. Dan looked back and forth from me to the Chief to me. "Wait? What are you two talking about?" Without looking away from Chief Tanner I said, "There's still a chance that I might go to jail for past charges."

There was a simultaneous, "What!" Alice walked up beside me and said, "There has to be some way that Shun won't have to go to jail." I glanced at her and said in a soft voice, "This is my fight." I saw that she understood what I was trying to say.

This was my problem, and I didn't want to drag her down with me if I did fail. Chief Tanner clasped his hands together and said, "I talked with my superintendent, and was able to talk him out of sending you to jail." The others were talking, and already celebrating.

In my opinion, it was still to early. I asked, "But what will happen instead?" Chief Tanner looked at me, and knew that I would ask this question. "We don't know yet." Murucho chimed in and said, "What if I could pay for the charges he has?" I looked down at him with surprise plainly written on my face.

"Murucho, you don't have to do that." He said back to me, "I know I don't have to, but you're our friend, Shun. We don't want to see anything else bad happen to you. All we want is to see an end put to this." I couldn't help but smile. This was why I was happy to have the friends that I did.

They may have their quirks and issues, but in the end they would all help out one another in whatever way they can. Chief Tanner rubbed his chin and said, "I suppose that you could pay them off, but he'd still have to show up for court. That's just the law."

Murucho walked past me and looked up at the Chief and said, "I'd be more than happy to pay for any fines for the charges." I smiled and mouthed a thanks to him. Murucho smiled and said, "You've helped me out in battles more times than I can count. It's the least I can do."

Chief Tanner nodded his head and told us, "If you do pay off the fines, he still has to go to court, but he can't go to jail. He might get more fines slapped on him after his court hearing, but that's only natural." Murucho told him, "I'll pay for those too."

Another nod came from the Chief, and he said, "Alright. So be it then. I'll report this back to my superintendent, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can." We all watched them leave Murucho's mansion. I let out a heavy sigh when I was sure they were gone.

Alice hugged me, and I could hear the others talking about what happened and how happy they were that I wasn't going to jail. I was in my own thoughts though. Finally, it was at an end. Thanks to Murucho and others who were on my side.

_Shun_

I had just finished up my court hearing. Murucho had paid all of the fines for my charges, and it hadn't even done a dent in his bank account. I walked out of the courthouse and was face to face with the usual media hounds. Since I had been plastered all over the news and the story of corruption against me leaked out, I had gained for attention than I really wanted.

I ignored the reporters that were asking me all kinds of questions that I could care less to answer. I could already see the stares and looks that I would be getting in my future. I would always be that guy who was in the gangs. That always seemed like what people stuck with.

It didn't matter that I fought and risked my life for the girl that I loved. No. People always kept the bad part of somebody's past in their minds. I didn't care though. I wasn't going to jail anytime soon, and Alice was safe. I pushed my way through the crowd of reporters, and got into the limo that Kato was driving as usual.

Dan and the others weren't allowed to go to the court hearing for some long and complicated reason. So, they decided to stay at Murucho's until I got out of the courthouse. Like Chief Tanner had told me, the judge had slapped another fine on me. Which Murucho said he would gladly pay as well.

I did feel guilty about having Murucho paying for my fines, and I even insisted that I would pay him back. It might take me a while, but I'd eventually and hopefully have everything returned to him. Kato pulled up to the mansion, and I hurried inside.

I saw Dan and the others standing around in the main lobby, and Ron and his little sister were also there. Allison had finally gotten the last of her medicine, and was better than she had ever been. She still needed to have daily injections for the rest of her life, but at least she wasn't going to die anytime soon. Alice came running up to me, and hugged my neck.

I hugged her back, and kissed the top of her head. I heard her say, "I'm so happy this is all over finally." I said back to her, "I am too." Dan and the others came running up to me, and attacked me with hugs and questions about how the court hearing went.

I spent the rest of the afternoon talking with them. It was late at night, and Alice and I were still in the sitting room on the couch. Murucho left the TV on, and a news report came on. The gangs were at it again. As usual. Some things would never change in the world.

No matter how hard somebody tried. But I had changed mine. I had left behind an impossible life, fought for Alice by going back to it, and beat all the odds that were stacked against me in the end.

And there was no way that I was going to allow anything to happen to my new life; one without the gangs or crimes of my past. I finally had my clean slate, and now I was able to go onto the next chapter and see what the story foretold for me.

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><p>ah. another story done. ^^ and just in time before i leave to go pageant dress shopping in a little bit. ^^ lol. again, thanks to all who have reviewed on this story. y'all mean a ton to me. and same to those who added the story to their alerts of favs. ^^ keep a look out for my next story <em>Wolf's Howling.<em> read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


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